Creative Individuals-Round 2

Robert Dante: Robert Dante is a bullwhip artist and teacher, four-time Guinness World Record holder, Executive Director of the Bullwhip Hall of Fame, published author (nonfiction and poetry) and journalist.; Laura Helle: An Iowa farm girl by birth, Helle is the executive director of Austin Area Arts. She earned a bachelor of fine arts from Iowa State University in graphic design with a minor in journalism/mass communication. Her education continued with the Institute for Executive Director Leadership from St. Thomas University, the Blandin Community Leadership Program, and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Helle represents the first ward on the Austin City Council. She is treasurer of the board of the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) and a member of the American Association of University Women and the Apex Austin Diversity Council. Helle is a visual mixed media artist and her hobbies include reading and practicing yoga.; Theresa McConnon: Theresa is a retired Ramsey County social worker. She has served on several nonprofit community social services boards over the years as a volunteer. She is a patron of the arts, supports the arts in anyway that she can, and has many years of experience performing in musicals at community theatres in The Twin Cities metro area. She took dance lessons in tap and jazz for many years as a child and young adult. She has served several times as a panelist for the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Board. She has also served as an Artistic Evaluator for the Mn State Arts Board.; Joshua Rieger: Rieger currently works in transportation while pursuing a master?s degree from Metropolitan State University. He serves as the managing editor of the school?s arts and literary magazine and is a member of the National Society of Leadership honor society.; Amy Rollinger: Rollinger has been employed by the University of Minnesota for eighteen years and is currently the associate director in the Office of Sponsored Projects Administration. Her volunteer experience includes serving as a community ambassador for Planned Parenthood, tabling events for Our Justice, adult literacy tutoring at the Forest Lake Adult Learning Center, and teaching adult education courses for Hennepin County Library. She has a MEd from the University of Minnesota.; Kristin Rosicky: Rosicky is an associate director of marketing and corporate events for UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune 500 company based in the Twin Cities, that provides health care plans and solutions for more than 132 million people worldwide. Rosicky has held marketing and special events positions for the past seventeen years spanning a wide range of industries such as aviation, legal, health care, retail, start-ups, and technology. Rosicky graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with dual BA degrees in English literature and audiology. She has served on several nonprofit and volunteer boards including most recently the marketing and events board for the Walk to End Alzheimer?s and Special Olympics (of Minnesota).; Adriane Tharp: Tharp is a writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Diagram, Cream City Review, and Creative Nonfiction's Sunday Short Reads. They previously worked as as an editor for the Noyo Review, and as social media manager for the Mendocino Coast Writers' Conference, where they also volunteered on the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee. In 2015, they were honored at the Kennedy Center as a U. S. Presidential Scholar in the arts. They graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut with an English major and film studies minor.; Erin Wojciechowski: Erin currently works at UMD as a faculty member in the social work department, but before this she spent 10 years in the nonprofit sector, serving in a variety of roles from a program coordinator up to an Executive Director. Erin is a current board member of the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival and loves to spend her free time seeing local music and supporting arts initiatives.