Arts Education

Holly Alcott: Alcott is a grants manager with Region 2 Arts Council where she designs and administers grants programs for artists and nonprofits and helps community members apply for these grants programs. Previously, she worked for a decade as a graphic designer, and as an art teacher in the decade before that. Alcott has been a dedicated advocate for the arts and a volunteer for various arts organizations such as Very Special Arts Montana, the Art Directors Guild, Bagley Area Arts Collaborative, and Bemidji Community Theater. She has had solo shows of her paintings and drawings, been included in group shows, been a juror for student and community exhibitions, and been on the boards of various nonprofits including libraries and historical societies. She has also acted in local theater productions, sung in choirs, participated in poetry slams, and produces an online comic. Alcott graduated from Wells College with a bachelor's degree in studio art and a K-12 teaching certificate and then from Oregon State University at Corvallis with a master of arts in interdisciplinary studies encompassing women's studies, fine art, and graphic design.; Monica Allen: Allen is a professional organizer and National Association of Productivity and Organization (NAPO) member, offering virtual organizing sessions and event planning with her business Realistic Reorganization. She has been writing poetry since 2021, after losing her mom to COVID-19 and getting a breast cancer diagnosis two months apart, and is working on getting her first chapbook published in 2024. From 2005 to 2020, Allen was a professional piano teacher and freelance pianist in the Twin Cities. She has organizational leadership and event planning experience in the independent music teacher world through Music Teachers National Association (MPNA), Minneapolis Music Teachers Association (MMTA), Saint Paul Piano Teachers Association (SPPTA), and the Association of Professional Piano Instructors (APPI).; Alexander Church: Church is a Minneapolis-based theater artist who has worked as a performer, producer, director, dramaturg, and playwright for scores of companies around town. He graduated from UMN Twin Cities with a degree in Theater, Political Science, and Mass Communication. Church currently serves as the Theater and Performing Arts Coordinator for Eden Prairie Parks and Rec where he produces and manages a vast array of performing arts programming for residents of the southwest metro.; Lisa Horton: Horton has been working in the arts in Minnesota since the early 1990s, particularly in theater tech and in music, but also making wearable art for display and sale. Currently she volunteers as a stitcher with the costume shop at the Norshor Theater/Duluth Playhouse. She also holds a PhD in medieval literature and has taught at the University of Minnesota Duluth since 2011.; Carla-Elaine Johnson: Johnson is a faculty member in the English department at Saint Paul College. She holds a PhD in literature from The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), a MA in literature from the State University of New York (Albany, NY), and an MFA in English and creative writing from the University of Minnesota. Her publications are in the areas of memoir, essay, and poetry. Johnson has accounting experience and holds certification as an enrolled agent, which permits representation of individuals before the Internal Revenue Service.; Georgette Jones: Jones is an arts educator, theater maker, and performer living in Southwest Minnesota. She studied Theater Arts and Education at Southwest Minnesota State University and works with arts organizations and schools across the area. Currently, she sings with musical partner Lee Kanten in the MadHatters. She is a retired Chairperson of the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council board and serves on several regional arts boards and advisory councils.