Arts Experiences

Deborah Brister: Deborah 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 & 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, a MS degree 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.; Mirella Espino: Program Director at the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and former grant writer for Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio, Minnesota's largest Latine-led nonprofit. Politcal Science and Latin American Studies bachelor's degrees. ; Megan Fitzgerald: M.r. Fitzgerald is a Minnesotan filmmaker who explores dark aspects of humanity and trauma within her written and visual works. Her screenplays and films have been featured at several film festivals, including the Austin Film Festival, Screencraft, FilmPipeline, Atlanta Film Festival, FilmQuest, Shriekfest, etc. She graduated with a BA from the University of Minnesota Morris in 2014 and an MFA from Ohio University in 2019, where she won the Betty Thomas Filmmaking Award and Student Enhancement Award. She also served as a board member of Theatre Pro Rata in St. Paul, MN. ; Wendy Frieze: Frieze has managed both for-profit and nonprofit galleries in Boston, San Francisco, and Minneapolis for approximately 20 years. At the Oakland Museum (Oakland, CA), she comanaged the gallery and was a member of the contemporary arts committee, a fundraising arm of the museum. She was also an intern in the Cooper Hewitt textile department (New York, NY). As a designer, she worked for CBS Early Show, Crate & Barrel, and several world renowned interior designers as a licensing agent and marketer. Frieze is a cum laude graduate of Parsons School of Design in product design and knowledgeable in clay, glass, metal, and textile design. She has attended several classes at Harvard in education and the arts. She graduated from Adler Graduate School with a double master?s in clinical psychology and art therapy at 65 and currently practices as a counselor to artists and in the addiction world.; Tyler Sassaman: Sassaman currently is an elementary reading specialist, on the leadership team, and serves as a mentor teacher at Prairie Seeds Academy. He earned his EdM from Harvard University in 2006 and has served as classroom teacher, instructional coach, and consultant in a variety of elementary settings. In 2019, he earned his MFA in creative nonfiction from Butler University and self-published the memoir Just One Question, which won the gold medal at the Independent Publishers Book Awards. He has been a finalist for the Loft Literary Prize and his work has appeared in The Sun magazine, Georgia Review, and Dudley Review.; Jennifer Spiller: Spiller is a seasoned and highly motivated fundraising professional with more than 25 years of experience fundraising and grantmaking for various causes. An active volunteer, Spiller?s activities are vast and diverse in nature. She currently serves on the People for Parks Committee of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, as a board member of the Linden Hills Neighborhood Council (LHiNC) and is a member of the current cohort of Leadership Twin Cities. She graduated from American University with a BA in international relations and French and from Saint Mary?s University of Minnesota with a MA in philanthropy and development.