Operating Support
Operating Support
The East Side Arts Council is a grassroots nonprofit organization in its twenty-eighth year, whose mission is to collaborate with our community and artists to celebrate and experience the arts.
Ardell Brede: former mayor of Rochester; Peggy Burnet: entrepreneur, art collector, and community volunteer; Uri Camarena: business consultant, Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA); Michael Charron: executive director of grants and sponsored programs for Saint Mary's University of Minnesota., Saint Mary's University of Minnesota; Sean Dowse: former mayor of Red Wing; former executive director, Sheldon Theatre; Anthony Gardner, vice president, marketing and communications at CentraCare; Philip McKenzie: team lead with Boutique Air, founder and owner of Bluedoor 74, adjunct college faculty; Mary McReynolds-Pellinen: executive director, Lyric Center for the Arts; Thomas Moss: consultant to nonprofits and government agencies; Dobson West: retired attorney; Christina Widdess: nonprofit consultant; former managing director, Penumbra Theatre
Bruce Berglund: Berglund is communications manager in the Office of Advancement at Gustavus Adolphus College. He previously worked in higher education as a faculty member at Calvin College (Michigan) and the University of Kansas. He has earned three Fulbright research fellowships and received awards for his teaching and writing. His book on the history of world hockey will be published later this year by the University of California Press. Berglund also serves as a copyeditor, manuscript reviewer, and content consultant for academic and trade presses in the United States and Europe. He has reviewed grant proposals for the National Endowment for the Humanities and other national and international organizations.; Anthony Galloway: Galloway holds a degree in ethnic studies and has more than fifteen years of professional experience in equity and cultural programming. While studying in South Africa during the tenth anniversary of the end of apartheid, Galloway developed a passion for critical discourse pedagogy and the power of art to combat racism. He is a contributor to local programs including The Kamau Kambui Circle for Cultural Learning's Underground Railroad program, and Minnesota Public Radio's Counterstories podcast. He has served as a student programming director, race equity coach, and discourse facilitation trainer for the West Metro Education Program for ten years. In that time, he has led professional development and training around equity and diversity for more than 5,000 educators in the Twin Cities and beyond. He serves as the executive director of the ARTS-Us Center for the African Diaspora and as a partner at Dendros Group, a consulting firm.; Cheryl Kessler: Kessler is the principal/lead evaluator at Blue Scarf Consulting LLC, an Eden Prairie-based evaluation service. She has nearly two decades of experience conducting all phases of evaluation in museums, libraries, and performing arts organizations. Kessler has advocated for doing and using evaluation by serving as a board member and chair of the professional development committee for the Visitor Studies Association from 2009 to 2013 and is an active member of the American Evaluation Association and the Minnesota Evaluation Association. She has presented sessions and workshops at both organizations' annual conferences as well as at the annual conferences of the Alliance of American Museums, Association of Children's Museums, Association of Midwest Museums, Minnesota Association of Museums, and Visitor Studies Group in London. A grant reviewer for the Institute for Museum and Library Services from 2009 to 2013 and for the Minnesota State Arts Board since 2016, Kessler holds a BA in anthropology from the University of California, Davis, and an MA in museum studies from John F. Kennedy University, Berkeley, California.; Mary LaGarde: LaGarde, executive director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center, has led the organization since June 2013. She has 30 years of nonprofit experience. In 2008 LaGarde received the Ann Bancroft Foundation DreamMaker Award, in 2014 was honored by the University of Minnesota's American Indian Student Center, and was named a 2016 City of Minneapolis Local Public Health Hero. She serves as board president of Little Earth of United Tribes Housing, and vice chair of the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors. She has a BA from St. Olaf College, and is a member of the White Earth Nation.; Kathleen Maurer: Maurer is a professor of English for Anoka-Ramsey Community College; she also spent nine years teaching at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She earned a PhD in English from Marquette University and has served on two of Minnesota's regional arts councils for a total of eight years. She is author of A Guide to Professional Writing in the Arts, and during her 30 year career has served as an Operating Support panelist, an Artist Initiative Literary Arts panelist, and as an artistic evaluator for the Arts Board. She has also been a Poet
ACHF Arts Access
At least 16,000 Youth and adults will participate in accessible arts programs in the inner city through quality arts experiences. Evaluation will be measured by number of programs offered, demographics served, reflective conversations and evidence of arts learning. 2: At least 4-5 non-arts organizations will integrate the arts into community life due to partnerships and efforts of ESAC. ESAC partners with social and civic groups to create art experiences particularly in Urban Design of the East Side neighborhoods. Success will be evaluated by projects completed.
The pandemic forced us to do less in person and our numbers are less for this year only. We reimagined and redesigned alot of our programs. We used on-line evaluations for the Zoom Senior classes and had nearly 100% filling them out. For Artmobile, our outdoor art classes for youth we gathered verbal comments with our intern who was at each class. 2: Non arts partners included: St Paul Parks and Rec, Payne Arcade Business Assoc(PABA), CLUES, & Cambric Senior housing. Project completed include: provided artists for Park and Rec outdoor Summer youth prog, hosted art in our windows for PABA Solidarity street exhibit, festival artists for CLUES and visual arts classes at Cambric Senior housing.
Other, local or private