Cultural Expression

Karlyn Berg: Berg graduated from Rhode Island School of Design, obtaining a BFA in painting and graduate printmaking studies at Pratt University. She is a working artist using acrylics, printmaking, and collage and she teaches art workshops. In 2017, 2020, and 2021 she was awarded Minnesota State Arts Board grants; she received Arrowhead Regional Arts Council grants in 2018, 2019, and 2021. She is the administrative assistant at the Edge Center for the Arts in Bigfork. She also is an ISD 318 (Grand Rapids and Bigfork) community education coordinator, and a volunteer dog scentwork trainer for the Iron Rang Dog Training Club.; Benjamin Bussey: Bussey is a musician and teaching artist who performs with numerous bands and artists in the Twin Cities area. His performing and teaching work takes him into dozens of schools throughout the state every year. He also works as an administrator, coordinating program planning for the MacPhail Center for Music School partnerships department. Bussey has completed music degrees with the University of Minnesota (bachelor?s in music education) and McNally Smith (master?s in trombone performance). He has served on the board of the Minnesota Band Directors Association, and currently serves on the board of the Minnesota Music Educators Association.; Reyna Davila-Day: Day was born and raised in Saint Paul and identifies as Indigenous, specifically Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and Mexica-Nahua. As she is the oldest of five siblings, she has always found herself in leadership positions and loves being of service to her family and community. She has worked within the Native community serving as a youth mentor, project manager, administrative assistant, and cultural consultant. Day was previously at Indigenous Roots Cultural Center for three years, which allowed her to receive experience working with a variety of artists in Minnesota. Her recent accomplishments include becoming a mother and a recent graduate from Hamline University with a bachelor's degree in business administration.; Emilio DeGrazia: DeGrazia is a professor emeritus of English at Winona State University. He has authored and edited several books of fiction, poetry, and essays; has had three plays produced; and has served on the board and as panelist for Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council.; Rachel Kollar: Kollar currently works at the American Craft Council as the development writer. She has worked at several arts museums in Minnesota over the past ten years, including the Walker, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Minnesota Historical Society, in customer service, collections management, and development positions. She has an art history degree from the University of Minnesota Morris.; Brenda Langerud: Since retiring and moving to Minnesota, Langerud has assisted a local children's charity in registering as a nonprofit which now has professionally written fundraising letters and grant applications. She cochaired establishing a local arts and recreation council including steps of registering as a nonprofit, writing articles of incorporation and by-laws, opening a checking account, and renting a post office box. Langerud recently wrote an economic development grant application that generated a $10,000 grant for the local chamber of commerce to expand its marketing efforts. She is registered as a judge with the Minnesota State High School League in speech, debate, and art and with Minnesota 4-H as a judge in several project areas including photography. Langerud especially enjoys the creativity of Minnesota?s young people.; Allison Osberg: Osberg is a working and teaching artist and a carpenter based in Minneapolis. Their focus is on natural materials and futuristic world building, facilitating the use of technologies old and new to build relationships with place and one another. They have created artifacts and rituals for practical and performance use the world over, their work being shown in Rifi (Iceland), Osaka (Japan), Zhuhai (China), New York, Montreal, and Minneapolis. They have been the recipient of the Puppet Lab Fellowship with the Jerome Foundation and several residencies with Springboard for the Arts.; Serenity Schoonover: Kenan is a working clay artist in Duluth. A recipient of a McKnight Foundation/Arrowhead Regional Arts Council fellowship and multiple Minnesota State Arts Board grant awards, they exhibit their clay sculpture throughout Minnesota and in regional shows. Regarding arts funding, they have worked as a program officer with the NEA and write art grant proposals for nonprofits in and around Duluth. Their current social practice is running art therapy groups with community arts organizations.