Creative Support for Individuals-Round 2

Julie Ahasay: Ahasay recently retired from the faculty at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She has directed and acted at the Duluth Playhouse for many decades, and has directed for Lyric Opera of the North, Wise Fool, and Renegade Theater Company. She has participated in approximately 80 theatrical productions ranging from college shows and comedy revues to dinner theater and live radio productions. She is an instructor at Duluth Playhouse Conservatory.; Ingrid Dai: Dai is the advancement associate at Propel Nonprofits, an intermediary organization and CDFI providing capacity building services and access to capital to support nonprofits in achieving their missions. She has previously held roles with nonprofit organizations including the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, in the areas of event planning, education, and development. Dai graduated from Carleton College with a BA in economics and music, specializing in violin performance. She currently serves as a volunteer board member for the Summer Singers.; Mikhayl MIkha Dominguez: Mikha Dominguez aka Mikhamik (Caracas, May 12, 1987) is a Queer non binary latinx Venezuelan visual artist, photographer and sculptor and a Zumba instructor who has resided in Minneapolis since 2014. Their early career was spent working in the Venezuelan national television industry where he experienced state censorship under the dictatorship of President Hugo Chavez. In response, Dominguez left Venezuela, and joined the more than six million other Venezuelans who fled the militaristic and authoritarian Chavez regime. Using techniques drawn from self-portrait, collage, make-up, performance art, photography and sculptures Dominguez explores themes of gender, the body, religion and the reinterpretation of reality. He invents a new visual language by superimposing everyday elements onto the human body. Under the artistic name "Mikhamik" has developed themes on sexuality, gender, religion, and pop culture in their work. The use of non-conventional materials reconfigures the sense of aesthetics and the meaning of the figures, characters and their objects in the universe created by @mikhamik; Emily Essert: Essert is a recovering academic who holds a PhD in English literature (modernist poetry) from McGill University (Montreal, Canada). Since fleeing the ivory tower for the nonprofit sector, she's had the pleasure of supporting important causes like the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN-Twin Cities), 826 Minneapolis, Global Rights for Women, and The Arc Minnesota. Essert started at The Arc as its grants and research manager and was its director of institutional giving during and after its merger into a statewide organization. She is especially thrilled to serve now on the development team at the Guthrie because she was a theater kid in high school and has never lost her passion for the performing arts. ; Kristie Frudden: Kristie has been a practicing Artist and Art Specialist in Minnesota since moving here after finishing her BS in Art Education at The University of Northern Iowa. She understands the challenges and joy of a life that is driven by a passion to create and reach others through the arts. She was an Art Specialist in Minnesota public schools for 26 years. She began her career in SW Minnesota, then 6 years with the Anoka-Hennepin Sch. Dist., taking an early retirement after teaching 19 years for the St. Anthony/New Brighton School District in order to focus full time on her own artistic practice. During that time she received her MFA through the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Illustration. She is an award winning Artist in a number of juried shows including the Great Minnesota State Fair Fine Art Exhibit, Northern Lights, and Artists of Minnesota. She has been a participating Artist at metro Art Festivals including but not limited to most recently Minnehaha Falls Art Fair and Loring Park Art Festival. She has created design work for metro businesses, churches, and schools. Her work is included in public and private collections. She has been an art instructor at community Art centers such as The Bloomington Center for the Arts. Kristie has illustrated a successful self-published Children's Board Book and will be completing her second one to come out this summer. She has been active in supporting and volunteering for numerous Art experiences for children and adults including volunteer work with Spring Board for The Arts in their resource center. Kristie hopes to continue to give back and support artists and opportunities through the State Board Grant Advisory Review process.; Michael Speck: Speck is the operations director of the Chatfield Center for the Arts, where he oversees logistics and interfaces with community, artistic, and government partners to provide artistic experiences to southeast Minnesota. He is trained as an actor and fight director, has served on the board of Theatre du Mississippi and the Chatfield Public Library, and teaches regularly in both professional and higher education settings.; Jennifer Ward: Jennie Ward has directed and taught theater in Chicago, New York City, and Boston. Locally, she has directed and assistant directed with Minnesota Jewish Theater Company, Playwrights' Center, Guthrie Theater, Jungle Theater, and St. Croix Festival Theater. She has taught students at the University of Minnesota/Guthrie BFA Acting Conservatory, Hamline University, and St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. For three years, Jennie was the Managing Director at the Center For Performing Arts in South Minneapolis (cfpampls.com), where she produced development opportunities for performing artists. She earned her MFA in Directing from the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater School Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.