Minneapolis Arts Commission Membership

The seventeen member Commission consists of five artists, five arts administrators and seven laypersons with consideration given to geographic distribution, experience in the arts, and connections with the community, ethnic diversity and representation from a range of artistic disciplines. Commission members may be appointed for no more than two consecutive two-year terms. Current Commissioners include (click here for a .pdf version):

Shelia Bland is Arts Work Director for COMPAS’ youth employment training through the arts program. She has acted, directed and written plays, founded several theatre companies, and served as Resident Director at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and the Rhode Island Feminist Theatre. Shelia taught higher education for eight years and served as an artist/teacher for K-12 aged children for fifteen. She currently does public readings with Talking Image Connections.

Jill Boldenow has nine years of experience at the Weisman Art Museum engaging audiences to interact with art and artists. She has worked extensively with local artists, arts organizations, the University and other community partners, developing outreach and artist presentations, performances, films, exhibitions, lectures, panels, and workshops. A 24-year resident of Minneapolis, Jill is currently an active resident of Powderhorn Park, where she enjoys the beautiful park and fun, annual events held there such as the Art Sled Rally, May Day Festival, and the Powderhorn Art Fair.

Trish Brock had a radio show in Wisconsin before relocating to London, England where she worked in theater, broadcasting, advertising, and public relations.  She met a musician on his World Tour in London and followed him to Minneapolis to act in his motion picture, Purple Rain.  She has traveled extensively throughout the world.  Trish is an exhibiting artist, a writer, poet, musician and activist.  She is presently working on an illustrated book of poetry.  Trish serves as Secretary on the Executive Board of the Stevens Square Center for the Arts in Minneapolis.

Pamela Caserta is the Assistant Registrar at Walker Art Center where she oversees loans of artworks from the Walker collection as well as Rights and Reproductions. She has worked in various capacities at the Walker since 2000, including as Assistant Archivist and Public Relations Intern. She holds a B.A. in Art History from Mills College, Oakland, California, where she curated A Portrait of Mills: Photographs by Imogen Cunningham.

Leah Cooper has been passionately devoted to making theater for over 25 years. She is currently a freelance director, an arts administration consultant, and a founding partner of Minnesota Playlist.com, the online trade journal for performing arts in Minnesota. From 2001-2006, she was the Executive Director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Prior to that, Leah worked by day in the corporate sector as a software engineer and business consultant. She is originally from Los Angeles, but fell in love with Minneapolis and its arts community eleven years ago and has been a happy transplant ever since.

Carol Daly was the state Director of Minnesota Elderhostel for 23 years, and was responsible for the administration of Elderhostel programs at 35 Colleges and Universities.  She developed Elderhostel programs in collaboration with many arts institutions including: MIA, WAC, WAM, the Minnesota Orchestra, Commonweal Theatre Company, The Guthrie, Jungle and Mixed Blood Theatres.  Carol served on the Board of Forecast Public Artworks for six years and the Metro Regional Council Arts Advisory Commission for three years.  Currently, Carol is a member on the Minneapolis Public Library Exhibition Review Committee.  She will coordinate a course titled “Arty Experiences: A Mixed Bag” for the U of M’s Lifelong Learning Institute in the summer of 2009.  Carol believes Art can enrich the lives of every citizen, but that far too few receive or are even aware of the benefits.

Heather Doyle has studied welding and metalsmithing from an artist’s perspective for more than a decade. She continues to explore the mediums of heat and metal through her business, INDUSTRYelle, producing metal sculpture and custom fabrication on a commission basis. She is an instructor of Sculptural Welding and Blacksmithing at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College as well as an instructor in Metal Arts for the University of Minnesota’s Summer Youth Program. Heather is the creative force behind “The SPEAK Project,” a South Minneapolis public art initiative, produced in collaboration with FORECAST Public Artworks, which uses various forms of visual and performance art to encourage youth to explore the subject of diversity and express their voices through creativity. Heather is founding board member of the Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, a member of the Artist-Blacksmiths’ Association of North America (ABANA) and a dedicated community activist. She has served on the Board of the Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization (CANDO) and in various other leadership capacities throughout her neighborhood.

Tim Gihring was appointed to the Commission in 2007 and became chair in 2009. He has been the senior writer and arts editor of Minnesota Monthly since 2003. He is also a photographer with the artist cooperative Studiopolis in the Northrup King Building in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District and a resident of the Whittier neighborhood.

Christopher E. Harrison Christopher E. Harrison is a graphic designer and illustrator for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder newspaper in Minneapolis. He is also a freelance art director, visual artist and adjunct instructor at the Art Institutes of Minnesota. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Northside Arts Collective in Minneapolis, as well as participated as a grant juror for Minnesota non-profit organizations such as COMPAS and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Christopher’s paintings and drawings have shown locally, nationally and internationally, and are included in corporate, residential and retail collections. His public art pieces are located around the Minneapolis area. His website is http://www.harrisonartstudio.com.

Tamara Nadel is a founding member and Development and Outreach Director of Ragamala Dance, a Minneapolis-based dance company dedicated to creating an awareness of Bharatanatyam — the classical dance of South India— and finding its place in the landscape of contemporary American dance. As a featured dancer with Ragamala, she has toured extensively, both nationally and internationally, highlighted by performances at the Bali Arts Festival in Indonesia, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and the New Victory Theater in New York City. Tamara has been the recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Career Opportunity Grant, a Jerome Foundation Travel Study Grant, and a 2006 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Dancers. She has also served on panels for the Minnesota State Arts Board, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, and COMPAS, and is currently serving on an advisory board for Live Action Set, a Minneapolis-based movement theater ensemble. Tamara is a graduate of Macalester College with a degree in Religious Studies and honors in Dance.

Katherine Cole (Nordahl) is an attorney with Fredrikson & Byron, where she practices in real estate and wind energy. Prior to joining Fredrikson & Byron, Katie worked as a law clerk in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York City.  Katie has a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota.  Katie also serves on the Board of Directors of the Open Eye Figure Theatre.

Kate Nordstrum serves as Music Programming Director of the Southern Theater in Minneapolis, MN, in addition to her full time job as External Relations Director for the theater.  Nordstrum graduated from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, designing her own major in arts administration. An internship at Lincoln Center in New York City led to a staff position as Marketing Manager, where she helped book and promote musicians spanning genres from classical chamber to avant-garde world at events like the Mostly Mozart Festival, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, American Songbook, and Lincoln Center Festival. Her work in New York at Lincoln Center as well as City Center formed the basis for an incredible education in art from genres and disciplines across the board. In January of 2006, she rejoined the Twin Cities arts community as the Director of Marketing and Communications at the Southern Theater.

George Norman is the WCCO TV news department assignment desk manager. George was involved in overseeing WCCO TV’s news coverage plan with their media partnerships in the re-opening of the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Central Library, showcasing the commitment to local arts in the community. George has been a community volunteer with a number of arts and non-profit organizations. He has also performed on a number of community theatre stages here in the Twin Cities area. He chairs the Minneapolis Arts Commission Public Engagement Committee.

Rachel Parker is a long-time arts patron and disability advocate. She was instrumental in the development of programs to promote accessibility in live theaters and arts organizations in Minnesota. Rachel does disability awareness training workshops for arts organizations such as the Guthrie Theater and the Walker Arts Center as well as for community theaters. She is a past Arts Access award winner from VSA Arts of Minnesota. Rachel works as a disability advocate for PACER Center (Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights) specializing in programs for youth and adults.

Alex Phung is an attorney at Dorsey & Whitney, where he practices corporate law. Alex has a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Chicago.  He has been particularly interested in photography since he entered the dark room for the first time in high school.

Blythe Risky (Staley) has worked at Minnesota Public Radio since 2006 and is currently the Marketing Manager for Classical Minnesota Public Radio.  Prior to MPR, she spent five years at the Walker Art Center promoting its performing arts and film programs.  She spends much of her free time and money supporting the Twin Cities' vibrant performing arts scene and has performed in a handful of productions with local theater artists Jon Ferguson, Live Action Set and The Scrimshaw Brothers.  Blythe graduated from Macalester College where she was a member of the Dance Ensemble and majored in American Studies.

David Salmela is founder and Director of Creative Electric Studios in NE Minneapolis. He has been running a software business for the past 10 years as well as playing music around town and occasionally composing music for film, television and theater.

Claire Wilson is currently employed with The Loft Literary Center and is responsible for Talking Volumes, a literary partnership with the Star Tribune and MPR. Claire is the program officer for the new incarnation of Inroads which will serve immigrant writers and writers of color in the Twin Cities. In her current position she works with other arts leaders to create programming that will engage the community around the new arts corridor on Washington Avenue. Claire has been actively engaged with the arts community in Minneapolis since arriving in Minneapolis in 2000.