Accessible Arts

Kelly Anderson: Anderson is a Minnesota based international artist that strives to make a difference with emotion based art. She received an associate of applied science degree in graphic design in December of 1999, and in 2003 received a bachelor of applied science degree in graphic design. In 2022, after two decades of artwork she started to integrate interactive based technology. Augmented reality allows her to expand past the immediate reaction of art and engage audiences in a new way. As most of her art is emotion based, she builds on interacting with the art.; Amy Cousin: Wilderson is a Minneapolis based jewelry artist and teaching artist. Her work taps into memory, culture, and heritage, using metalsmithing, wire-working, and knotting techniques. She is the recipient of several grants, residencies, and fellowships including Midway Contemporary Arts through the Andy Warhol Foundation, Minnesota Humanities Center, COMPAS, Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery, Minnesota State Arts Board, and Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. Her jewelry has been in exhibitions at Fresh Eye Gallery, Viewpoint Gallery, Friedli Gallery & Studio, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Wilderson earned a BA in communication from Tulane University.; Kelsey Gantzer: Gantzer is the executive director for the Duluth Community School Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that implements the full-service community school model in three public schools in Duluth. Prior to joining the Collaborative, she served as food access manager and rutabaga project manager at the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency and the operations and communications manager for the Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association. She has a passion for building sustainable community connections and holistically supporting youth. She holds a BA in business management and English from the University of St. Thomas.; Jacklyn Janeksela: Janeksela is a descendant of the Saami People, the Indigenous seminomadic peoples of the Arctic Circle, her relationship with the earth is predicated on her relatives. She has worked in nonprofits in various capacities, on Turtle Island and abroad, mostly focused in the areas of public relations, communications, education, community engagement, outreach, marketing, and social media. Janeksela has been a reader of grant proposals in her time abroad and for the New England Grassroots Environment Fund. She has been a writer/cowriter of several grant proposals focused on food, growing food, local food, food education, and food sovereignty. She is also an artist and works in mixed media.; Timothy King: King is a board member and the executive director of Dreams United/Suenos Unidos, a nonprofit community arts organization serving the rural communities of Todd, Stearns, and Morrison Counties. As a journalist, he has written about the arts and, via Dreams United, he has organized numerous multicultural and artistic events.; Shannon Lucas Westrum: Westrum is a teaching artist specializing in basketry and fiber arts, and a homeschool parent. She is past student of Ojibwe arts and silversmithing. She is also a former business owner selling folk and consigned local art, she has organized arts fairs, and is a former regional arts council board treasurer. She is a Bemidji State University graduate with a BS in business administration.; Charles Matson Lume: Matson Lume is a visual artist who believes that, like William Carlos William, ?It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.? He has received fellowships/grants from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Bush Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Matson Lume has participated in artist residencies located in: Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Ireland, and the US. He holds a MFA and a MA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA in psychology from Wheaton College. Matson Lume has had many mentors, one of which was poet, Gustaf Sobin, who taught him art is not a noun, but a verb, and the loveliest sounds arise from the deepest silence. Matson Lume has taught art at the university level since 1996, and currently is professor of art at School of Art and Design, University of Wisconsin-Stout.; Davis Steen: Steen is a resident of the northeast Minneapolis community. He is the client service specialist with the Northeaster and the AVE expert with Trivia Mafia. Steen also makes videos, graphic design, podcasts, and various projects out of wood. He has been an active member of the Northeast Arts District, helping with Art-A-Whirl and various art events in his area.; Briauna Williams: Williams is a 33-year old Black woman from North Minneapolis. She is an acrylic artist, muralist, illustrator, and community engagement artist. She uses paint to tell not only her own stories but her community?s as well. Stories of pain, passion, resilience, and beauty. ?Painting is like poetry,? says Williams. She is a community leader and artist curating spaces for black and brown people to aid in healing with and through the arts. Williams is a muralist, self-taught artist, and henna artist. Her work has been featured at the Phoenix Theater sponsored by Springboard for the Arts, as well as in an exhibition in a Duluth courthouse.