Arts Experiences

Amy Barr-Saxena: Barr-Saxena is a volunteer with the Land Stewardship Project. Barr-Saxena previously worked at the Hispanic Health Council in Hartford and held volunteer positions at Family Life Education, the Health Advisory Committee, and First Steps. She graduated with a BA in international relations from the University of Minnesota and a MPH from the University of Connecticut.; Steven Hirsh: Hirsh is a musician who plays drum set. He mostly plays improvised music (free jazz). He worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 30 years. He was a legal aid attorney in California, Maine, and Minnesota. He also worked as the executive director of a Minnesota statewide, rural, nonprofit. He has worked extensively with government agencies and has written numerous grant applications.; Deborah Jensen: Jensen is a retired weaver. She served as a grant administrator/reviewer for the Metropolitan Council from 2007-2019 and continues to work as a contract project analyst for Environment and Natural Resource Trust Fund grants.; Marjorie Pitz: Pitz is a retired public artist and sculptor, following a career in landscape architecture that focused upon public places. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor?s of landscape architecture degree. Pitz has served on Minneapolis Art in Public Places juries, the State Designer Selection Board; the Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design (AELSLAGID)?Licensure Board for design professionals; and the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Minnesota chapter. Pitz is a creative thinker and integrates accessible art into public places.; Amanda Smoot: Smoot has served as an academic administrator for seventeen years at the University of Minnesota (UMN). She currently oversees the educational strategic operations for the Department of Graphic Design, Apparel Design, Retail Merchandising, and Product Design (GARP) in the College of Design. Prior to working with GARP, Smoot was the administrator for the Department of Landscape Architecture. Smoot?s PhD research highlighted human dignity and the importance of a vibrant and equitable community in which to live (A Qualitative Study of African American Elders? Housing in Relation to their Well-being).