Cultural Expression

Nancy Cook: Cook is a writer and teaching artist. She serves as flash fiction editor for Kallisto Gaia Press and is a regional vice president for the League of Minnesota Poets. She is a founder and director of ?The Witness Project,? a program of writing workshops and community engaged initiatives designed to enable creative work by underrepresented voices. A social practice artist with decades of experience with nonprofits, Cook has been awarded grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, National Parks Arts Foundation, Mayo Clinic, Minnesota Humanities Center, Integrity Arts and Culture, and others. She has published widely and has curated five anthologies.; Marilyn DeLong: DeLong is professor emeritus of apparel design and studies in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. She has served in leadership positions within the Colleges of Human Ecology and Design as associate dean for research and outreach engagement, associate dean of academic affairs, and director of graduate education. She is a fellow in two professional organizations: International Textile and Apparel Association and the Costume Society of America. Her scholarly research is focused on design history, aesthetics, material culture, and activism related to design, societal and cultural issues and trends. DeLong has been coeditor of Fashion Practice, the journal of design, creative process and the fashion industry, for fourteen years from its inception in 2009. She has given presentations at global conferences in eleven countries (Canada, Spain, Portugal, France, England, Denmark, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Brazil) and throughout the USA. She has taught graduate and undergraduate classes at the University of Minnesota in material culture, aesthetics of design, innovation theory, trends, history of fashion and ethics.; Nathan Dorr: Dorr is the vice president for advocacy at Northwest Minnesota Foundation (NMF) in Bemidji. He has served the foundation for more than eleven years and now leads the foundation?s equity and inclusion efforts, public policy activities, organizational evaluation activities, and provides staff support to many special initiatives. Dorr participates on many advisory committees in northern Minnesota, including the local Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program, the Inclusive Workforce Employer program led by Rural Minnesota CEP, Northwest Private Industry Council, the Minnesota Council on Foundation?s (MCF) program committee, and cochair for the MCF public policy committee. As a community volunteer, he serves as treasurer on the Northern Dental Access Center board, and past board chair for the Headwaters Science Center. He was recently elected to the Minnesota Council on Foundations board of directors. Prior to working with NMF, he was a regional labor market analyst for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, a grant writing instructor at Bemidji State University, a grant writer for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, and a statistician for the USDA?s Agricultural Statistics Service in Montana. He holds a bachelor?s degree in sociology from the University of Minnesota, and a master?s degree in public policy and nonprofit management from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. Dorr is a descendant of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.; Savannah Hanson: Hanson, currently a senior software engineer in Test, has been working in software development since her senior year of college. Her degrees are in music and history, and she graduated with honors from Hamline University in 2014. Hanson has served as a board member at her synagogue, Mount Zion Temple, a member of the Women of Mount Zion, and has been a member of many women in tech groups at various companies. She has also been a member of the Oratorio Society.; Timothy Hornseth: Hornseth has been involved with the Winona Symphony Orchestra, either as a musician or board of directors president since 1999. As president, he oversaw the hiring of a new musical director/conductor, as well as several part-time, paid staff positions. His work history as a HR manager and college instructor in HR facilitated a professional milieu within the board. He presently is a freelance writer and newspaper columnist in two different publications. He also is a member of the Rochester Pops Orchestra as a violinist. Hornseth has worked professionally for many years in several different nonprofit industries.; Rachael Jaeger: Jaeger graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato with a bachelor's degree in media studies. She has received grants from the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council and is planning a fantasy space trilogy for young adults with those funds. Most recently, she also received a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board and is working on a short film about a homeless woman with musical aspirations who is escaping from an abusive situation. She has a backlog of many other projects she hopes to bring to life.; Kathryn Kluegel: Kluegel has worked for close to 20 years at the University of Minnesota as an academic advisor in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA); she helps students develop written degree proposals in the CLA individualized degree program. She is a freelance writer and has worked for the Twin Cities arts and entertainment weekly vita.mn and the Star Tribune. She volunteers as a screening committee member for the local Sound Unseen music film festival, serves as a judge for the student Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards, and has volunteered for Minnesota art organizations including the Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival, the Walker Art Center, and the Soap Factory. She is a passionate consumer of Minnesota music, visual arts, writing, and modern dance.; Darryl Murphy: Murphy is a Minneapolis native and American Indian. While holding an associate of arts (AA) degree from Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Murphy is primarily self-taught. His creation story began in the city of Minneapolis libraries. As a child, he would often be found in one of the libraries, exploring "how things work" books, or wandering around Minneapolis encountering the many buskers and traveling musicians that populated some areas. In addition to his AA degree, Murphy also holds a certificate in paralegal studies and has a background in restaurant and office management; he employs such skills to assist artists and other performers with setting up their own business practices. As a young adult, he found time to tutor other adults and disadvantaged persons in adult basic education, earning recognition from the Minnesota Literacy Council.; Thomas Schenk: Schenk retired after thirty-five years doing grant and research related work primarily with the University of St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota, which included five years with the College of Design and five with the College of Liberal Arts. As a volunteer, he helped develop the Minnesota River Birding Trail and is currently on the board of the Spiritual Naturalist Society, as well as a contributing writer and editor for its weekly articles. His avocation has long been writing, working in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and other nonfiction.; Dane Stauffer, An alum of the Children's Theatre Company, New York University theater program, and the Brave New Workshop resident company, Stauffer is an actor/singer/director/playwright and educator, fond of using improvisation and storytelling as a means of teaching empowerment through the arts to children and adults in all settings. As an educator, he began teaching in theaters and classrooms in the early 1980s and has always maintained his teaching practice alongside his performing. For the last decade, he has been actively involved in the field of creative aging, bringing arts programming to theaters, libraries, museums, and housing for seniors that use sequential arts learning to build community, social engagement, and arts discipline to underserved populations. As an actor, Stauffer?s recently starred in the return of the Ivey Award winning Glensheen at the History Theatre, for which the cast album has just been released. He also starred last Thanksgiving as Scrooge in Dolly Parton's Smokey Mountain Christmas Carol at the Ordway. At Park Square Theatre he was last seen in the tour de force one man show Jacob Marley?s Christmas Carol. His recent jazz album Mama, I can Scat is available online, and he recently performed in an indie short based on Lorna Landvik?s Oh My Stars.