Arts Education

Deborah Brister: Brister currently serves as executive director of the Audubon Neighborhood Association (ANA) in Northeast Minneapolis. She regularly works with artists through ANA programs such as the Audubon Farmers Market, Spring Festival, Cross-Cultural Eats and Beats Odyssey, and more. Brister's nonprofit leadership experience includes project management, budgets, community engagement, strategic visioning, grant writing, contract negotiating, and working with many volunteers and board members. She has a BS in natural resources and environmental studies and a MS in fisheries policy, both from the University of Minnesota, where she also worked as a program manager for the Institute for Social, Economic, and Ecological Sustainability.; Davi Gray: Gray is a writer, poet, storyteller, and abolitionist. They are queer, trans, and nonbinary. They currently work as a writer, spoken word performer, and part-time organizer, building bridges between writers and other artists. Gray spent several years incarcerated and has worked as a tutor, prison newspaper editor, software developer, and an airborne infantry soldier. They have been published in Poetry magazine, Hayden's Ferry Review, and elsewhere, and have won several prizes in PEN America Prison Writing contests. They have a bachelor's degree in computer science from Hawaii Pacific University (Honolulu, HI).; Mary Magnuson: Magnuson is the grants program officer for rural placemaking at Blandin Foundation, Minnesota's largest rural based and rural focused philanthropy. Magnuson has held this position since August 2022; she spent the previous eighteen years in its public policy and engagement team, where she most recently administered the community broadband program. She holds a BA in anthropology from the University of Minnesota and has served on the board of Grand Rapids Arts for seven years.; Lisa Martinson: A former higher education administrator turned arts administrator, Martinson has worked with arts organizations around the country, including Miami City Ballet, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Metro Arts: Nashville, American Folk Art Museum, and currently at the Minnesota Orchestra, serving as their people and culture coordinator. Martinson holds a degree in sociology, a master's in adult and higher education, and Native American studies. As a shadow researcher, she looks for opportunities to expand her understanding of arts and cultural leadership as it relates to current trends focusing on diversity education, identity exploration, and leadership development.; Sharon Nordrum: Nordrum is the founder of the Anishinaabe Artisan Market, a cohort of 30 local artists that hosts two artisan markets a year in the Bemidji area. She has been an artist her whole life but has only been selling at local art shows since 2011. She loves to explore new art forums and has received several art grants over the years. ; Breanca Ousley: Dawson is the sole owner of the Piece of their Mind and A Talk with Br3 podcasts, which bridge communication gaps between generations, genders, and cultures. She is a level two behavioral therapist who works with children and families to evolve learning skills. Dawson worked as a paraprofessional and assistant teacher for twelve years.; Valerie Williams: Williams completed her MFA in directing at Baylor University (Waco, TX) in May 2020. Before that, Williams served as a grants writer for the Great River Shakespeare Festival and Winona Area Public Schools. Williams also directed the Winona Senior High drama program and theaters in the Winona community. As a stage manager, Williams worked with several theaters in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area. Currently, they volunteer with La Crosse Community Theatre (La Crosse, WI).