Creative Support for Individuals-Round 2

Jeffrey Bina: Bina has worked in nonprofit arts administration for sixteen years, and currently serves as the director of finance and operations with one of the leading choral arts and community engagement organizations, VocalEssence. Prior roles have included artistic operations and finance work with Cantus; and a content producer for Minnesota Public Radio, working for the nationally syndicated show, Performance Today. Bina serves on the board of directors for the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and performs as an orchestral percussionist, a drummer, and a chamber musician on both piano and percussion. Bina attended St. Olaf College, majoring in music and management studies.; Gloria Brush: Brush is professor in photography at the University of Minnesota Duluth and earned an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Board, Bush and McKnight foundations, among others. Her work has appeared in exhibitions nationally and internationally, including at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, Lil Street Gallery in Chicago, and D-ART Gallery for the IV2020 International Symposium on Digital Art, and in Rosenblum's book A History of Women Photographers. Prior to her university tenure, she was the first director of the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council.; Kristie Gaalswyk-Pomerenke: Kristie is currently a web editor for the University of Minnesota Extension. Prior to this, she served as the 4-H Extension educator in Martin County for eight years, where she developed and facilitated arts programming for youth both locally and statewide. While in this role, she received the Minnesota Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals' Excellence in Communication and Expressive Arts award in 2018 and in 2021. She has a BA degree in theatre arts and journalism from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She worked in the education department at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts for four years. While there, Kristie coordinated in-school artist residencies, assisted in the management of school performances, and co-developed a musical theatre camp. She currently serves as a volunteer board member for the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council and Martin County Area Foundation. She also previously served as a board member for the Fairmont Opera House.; Anna Henderson: Henderson is a writer and scientist. Her work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, River Teeth, The Common, among others. She curates the ongoing book art exhibit, The Nature Library. This exhibit was founded based on the belief that science literacy can be increased through the arts. She has been a recipient of an Arts Board Artist Initiative grant and a Loft Literary Center Mentor Series award. She is a fellow at the Institute for the Environment at the University of Minnesota, teaches public policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and creative writing at the Loft Literary Center.; Timothy King: King is a farmer, journalist, and cofounder of the nonprofit Dreams United/Suenos Unidos. As a journalist, he has written about the arts and, via Dreams United, he has organized numerous multicultural and artistic events including, most recently, an extensive website on Minnesota sculptor Joe Kiselewsk.; Rupa Nair: Nair is a senior controls specialist with an environmental company. Nair graduated from Texas A&M (College Station, TX) with an MS in construction management and holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from India. Nair is a trained Indian classical dancer and is currently a company artist with Katha Dance Theatre. Nair has served as a board member with Minnesota Malayalee Association and has also been a grant reviewer with the Arts Board. In addition, Nair enjoys volunteering her time for arts and creative projects.; Morgen Ruff: Ruff is a freelance film programmer and cinema operations specialist. From 2012 to 2020, he was lead programmer and exhibition program manager at the Northwest Film Center & Portland International Film Festival in Portland, OR, where he programmed contemporary cinema, classics, and experimental film while collaborating with a wide array of community groups and like minded arts organizations. Ruff holds a BA in film studies and philosophy from Portland State University.; Holly Streekstra: Streekstra is a versatile sculptor and installation artist with a background in theater, music, and dance. She has participated in group exhibitions and residencies in the United States and abroad (Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Korea). Her work has been shown at SooVAC, Minnesota Museum of American Art, and Franconia Sculpture Park in Minnesota; the Invisible Dog, Brooklyn; and the Good Children Gallery, New Orleans. She was a 2016 Jerome Emerging Artist Fellow. In 2013, she was a Fine Arts Fulbright Teaching Scholar in Hungary. She holds a BFA from the University of Minnesota, and an MFA from Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA). Streekstra taught fine art at the college level for fifteen years. She has been a preforming arts production coordinator for more than 25 years.