Creative Support for Individuals-Round 1

Julie Ahasay: Julie Ahasay recently retired from the faculty at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She has directed and acted at the Duluth Playhouse for many decades, and also has directed for Lyric Opera of the North, Wise Fool, and Renegade Theater Company. She has participated in approximately 80 theatrical productions ranging from college shows and comedy revues to dinner theater and live radio productions. She is an instructor at Duluth Playhouse Conservatory.; Paul Dove: Dr. Paul T. Dove is professor emeritus, University of Evansville (Evansville, IN); his emphasis is voice and music education. Dove is the cofounder and artistic director of the Northern Light Opera Company in Park Rapids. Dove was instrumental in founding the Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council and is chair of the Park Rapids Arts & Culture Advisory Commission. Dove serves as vice president of Armory Arts & Event Center board charged with the development of the Park Rapids National Guard Armory as a regional arts and event facility.; Roxanne Givens: Givens is the founder of the Minnesota African American Museum. She has a master's degree in social work from the University of Minnesota and spent her early career in social work and vocational counseling. She has served on boards of St. Catherine University, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, the Bush Foundation, and Penumbra Theatre Company, as well as her family's foundation, The Givens Foundation for African American Literature. Givens is the recipient of a WomenVenture Lifetime Achievement award, a Heritage Keepers award, and was honored as a community champion by the Girl Scouts of America.; Michael Kleber-Diggs: Michael Kleber-Diggs is a poet and essayist. His writing has appeared in McSweeney's, Poetry City, North Dakota Quarterly, Pollen Midwest, Paper Darts, Water~Stone Review and a few anthologies. He enjoys collaboration with visual artists. Kleber-Diggs is a past fellow with the Givens Foundation for African-America Literature, a past winner of the Loft Mentor Series in poetry, and the inaugural poet laureate of Anoka County libraries. His work has been supported by the Arts Board, the Jerome Foundation, and (as part of a collaboration project through Soo Visual Art Center) the National Endowment for the Arts.; Jennifer McDougall: McDougall is currently the special projects director at White Earth Tribal and Community College, where she oversees human resources, development, marketing, facilities, IT, grants and security departments. McDougall has a bachelor of science degree in project management from Minnesota State University-Moorhead and an AAS in human resources from Minnesota State Community and Technical College. McDougall is an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and has a passion to gain more knowledge of her culture and the arts of other cultures.; Jayne Rothschild: Rothschild is the executive director of Honors Choirs of Southeast Minnesota, a youth choir organization serving 325 to 350 singers each season in five ensembles. She joined the organization in 2010, and oversees all administrative operations. Previous volunteer experience in the arts includes extensive work with Roanoke Valley Children's Chorus (Roanoke, VA). Rotchschild received a BA in organizational management from Gustavus Adolphus College.; Gary Ruschman: Ruschman is a vocal artist, instrumentalist, conductor, and prizewinning composer. He has appeared with orchestras, opera companies, and festivals around the world, and was a member of the Twin Cities based Cantus vocal ensemble for a decade. He has received institutional support and recognition from Chorus America, American Composers Forum, Nautilus Music Theater, and ASCAP. Ruschman is director of music at Saint Timothy Lutheran Church in Saint Paul, and currently serves on the music staff of One Voice Mixed Chorus and Mixed Precipitation's Picnic Operetta. He earned degrees with honors from Northern Kentucky University (Highland Heights, KY) and the San Francisco Conservatory (San Francisco, CA).