Creative Individuals
Creative Individuals
Hassan will collect traditional Somali children's songs and lullabies from elderly community members, transferring them from oral to written form, preserving these cultural literacies for future generations of Somali-Minnesotan children.
Carol Bruess: author, speaker, relationship social scientist, and creator; Uri Camarena: business consultant; Michael Charron: arts educator, arts and civic leader; Richard Cohen: attorney in private practice, former state legislator; Emily Galusha: arts and civic leader, former arts administrator; Anthony Gardner, healthcare consultant; Ken Martin: political strategist, campaign manager; Philip McKenzie: adjunct college faculty; Michele Sterner: higher education administrator; Dobson West: retired attorney; Christina Woods: executive director, arts organization
Todd Hannert: Hannert is a visual artist and songwriter who has career long experience in television, theater, writing, and producing. He has a MFA in scene design and puppetry arts from the University of Connecticut.; Rebecca Horn: Horn currently works as a vice president and executive recruiter within the title insurance community. As a young woman, she pursued professional vocal performance and began college as an opera performance major, but ultimately graduated with a communication and English double major from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Today, she is active in the local arts community, participating in classes, workshops, and performances of all kinds. She is an avid painter, photographer, and creative, and participates in community theater.; Patricia Kent: Kent has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. She has soloed internationally in Panama, Italy, and the United Kingdom. She holds a degree from the University of Minnesota, where she won the coveted Schussler Prize. She is an active performer in opera. Kent is a featured artist on several recordings, including the Minnesota AIDS Quilt Songbook; All in the Family, a recording of songs of Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn with pianist Robert Koopmann; and a recording of French songs, La Vie Interieure, with Roderick Kettlewell. Kent and Kettlewell performed these French songs to critical acclaim in a recital at Carnegie Hall. She now serves on the music faculty of Augsburg University and Macalester College.; Andrea Pierre: Pierre is the station manager of KRSM Radio, a low-power FM station in south Minneapolis. She is also a creative and producer of Afro-Caribbean descent. Pierre champions underrepresented and unheard voices. She believes storytelling is a huge component of bridging the divide and is interested in connecting and empowering folks for change. She is passionate about issues such as motherhood, community based arts, Blackness, politics, and health.; Jennifer Vickerman: Vickerman is a longtime nonprofit fundraising visionary. She worked as the gift planner with the Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation in December 2023. She graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College with a BA in music performance in theater. Vickerman has been a member of the VocalEssence Chorus for 26 years and currently serves on the development committee.
ACHF Arts Access
Somali-Minnesotan children will have access to the oral tradition of Somali children's songs and lullabies written in Somali and English. An advisory committee of elderly community members and parents will evaluate the project outcome. We will also gather feedback from children and parents at community events and library and school readings.