Creative Support for Organizations-Round 2
Creative Support for Organizations-Round 2
The Guthrie will produce relaxed performances for seven of its productions, inviting in an audience that hasn't typically felt welcome in the performing arts.
Uri Camarena: business consultant; Michael Charron: arts educator and an arts and civic leader; Richard Cohen: attorney in private practice and a former state legislator; Emily Galusha: arts and civic leader, former arts administrator; Anthony Gardner: vice president, marketing and communications at CentraCare; Ken Martin, political strategist and campaign manager; Philip McKenzie: team lead with Denver Air, adjunct college faculty; Nichole Melton-Mitchell: healthcare administrator; Dobson West: retired attorney; Christina Widdess: nonprofit consultant; former arts administrator; Christina Woods: executive director, Duluth Art Institute
Kelly Anderson: Anderson is a Minnesota based international artist that strives to make a difference with emotion based art. In 2022, after two decades of artwork she has started to integrate interactive based technology. Augmented reality allows her to expand past the immediate reaction of art and engage audiences in a new way. As most of her art is emotion based, she builds on interacting with the art.; Alexandra Bodnarchuk: Bodnarchuk is a Carpatho-Rusyn American choreographer based in Minneapolis. She creates original works ranging from solos to evening length group works for the stage and screen. She was a 2021 Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellow at Jacob's Pillow and a 2020 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow finalist. Her most recent work, dance film Heritage Sites, premiered in 2020 and has been screened across the United States. She hails from Pittsburgh, PA where she studied classical ballet and Eastern European folk dance. She holds a BFA in dance performance and choreography and a BA in French from Ohio University.; Paul Hustoles: Hustoles, now retired, served as chair of the department of theater and dance at Minnesota State University, Mankato for 35 years. He was also artistic director of Highland Summer Theatre from 1985 to 2020. Hustoles received his BFA from Wayne State University, his MA from the University of Michigan, and his PhD from Texas Tech University. He has directed more than 235 theater productions and produced more than 625 shows in his career. A distinguished faculty scholar of MSU, Hustoles was appointed by Governor Walz to serve on the board of the Perpich Center for Arts Education until 2026.; Josee Morissette: Morissette is a retired research scientist who worked at Medtronic for nineteen years. She graduated from McGill University in Canada with a BSc in physics and physiology and obtained a PhD in computation and neural systems from the California Institute of Technology. She served on the board of the Minnesota Youth Symphonies in various roles (director, vice president, and president) for six years and is currently serving on the board of the International Cello Institute.; Carolyn Olson: Olson is a retired K-12 rural public school art teacher. While teaching, she worked as webmaster for her school district and art department. She also taught at a community based science and culture camp at the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation. In addition to arts education, Olson is a narrative painter. From March 2020 to July 2021, she completed a series of 100 pastel drawings, Essential Worker Portraits, which have been recognized worldwide. Currently, she is illustrating a children's picture book, Pearl's Garden, a story about a young girl growing a vegetable garden with family support. She has a BFA in painting and graphics (1980) and a master's degree in painting (2003).; Jonathan Quijano: Quijano is a patient education editor for M Health Fairview, certified as a health literacy specialist. He makes medical information easier to understand for patients with literacy challenges. He graduated from St. Cloud State University with a BA in English. Outside of work, he pursues a passion as a history researcher and writer. He won a grand prize from the Minnesota Historical Society for a documentary film based on his archival research. He also volunteers for the Washington County Historical Society. In both pursuits, the goal is to help a wide audience see new details with a simple, clear style.; Marynel Ryan Van Zee: Ryan Van Zee is currently the director of student fellowships at Carleton College in Northfield. She works with students and recent alumni applying for external awards and administers an internal fellowships program. In 2021, she served as an Operating Support artistic evaluator for the Minnesota State Arts Board. She has also served as an evaluator for the Congress-Bundestag CBYX Program, the Critical Language Scholarship Program, and the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship Foundation. From 2005-2015, she was a faculty member at the University of Minnesota Morris, where she reviewed applications for internal grants and secured grant based funding. Ryan Van Zee is an alumna of the Fulbright program and has been active in the (nonprofit) Minnesota Chapter of the Fulbright Association, including service as chapter president.; Anat Spiegel: Spiegel is a composer and vocalist specializing in cross platform performance. Her work stems from a vocal perspective and focuses on the endless expressions of the human voice. In the juxtaposition of jazz, theater, and contemporary classical music, Spiegel's compositions consider the connection between written language and its sounding expression. Spiegel is a member of the composer's collective Monotak and the spoken word duo Noon and Ain. Her recent works includes the opera Medulla (La Monnaie, Brussels), the electronic opera Before Present (National Dutch Opera and ADE), the online opera The Transmigration of Morton F (Holland Festival), and the chamber quartet My Four Mothers (Cedar Commissions). Spiegel is a recipient of the 2020 McKnight composer's fellowship and a graduate of the Amsterdam Conservatory with a BA in vocal performance.; Joseph Tougas: Tougas is a performing musician and songwriter, and the creator of ?The Best of Hank and Rita,? a twelve-song "barroom operetta" performed throughout Minnesota and the Midwest from 2015 to 2017. His arts writing for the daily Free Press in Mankato has garnered numerous first place awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. He works as writer and editor of publications at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he has also served as an adjunct faculty member. He currently fronts the band Joe Tougas and Associates and is a radio host at KMSU-FM in Mankato.
ACHF Arts Access
Using input from patrons who have felt unwelcome to participate in the performing arts, the Guthrie will curate judgement-free relaxed performances. The Guthrie will email surveys to relaxed performance attendees to gauge whether we succeeded in creating a welcoming environment for patrons who have difficulty attending traditional theater performances.
The Guthrie hosted four relaxed performances, serving 1,373 people. The Guthrie uses post-show electronic surveys, observation, and patron comments to evaluate our programming. While survey response rates were low, 96% of respondents felt welcome, and close to half (48%) used one or more support resources.