St. Cloud Cohort Participants
Heather Allen
Heather Allen is a rural-hearted artist, organizer and arts-administrator living in St. Joseph, MN. Her creative practices include painting, drawing, storytelling, curating her wardrobe and the occasional mixed-media semi-functional garden sculpture. She spends her days working as the Program Officer for the Central MN Arts Board, parenting (almost) two teenagers and kayaking as often as possible.
Amanda Cortés
Amanda Cortés works at the intersection of racial equity, grassroots community development, art and culture. She is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and draws inspiration from her upbringing in working class, Latinx communities. Amanda is currently a Rafala Green Fellow at Artspace, an Artist Career Consultant at Springboard for the Arts and her independent work explores alternative models for community owned real property.
Anne O’Keefe-Jackson
Anne O’Keefe-Jackson is an enrolled member of the Lower Sioux Community. She received her undergraduate degree in Marketing and American Indian Studies from Augsburg College and her Masters’ in Business and Leadership from Augsburg University. Anne is currently a board member of the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, she is an artist and advocate of the arts, and is currently working on creating a business to support other native artists.
Bethany Lacktorin
Bethany Lacktorin is a performance artist, organizer, media producer and musician. Her practice involves issues and meanings surrounding identity, displacement and our connection through land, place and shared experiences. Currently based in Pope County, Minnesota, she is Board Chair/Director of Programming for the Crow River Players / New London Little Theatre, serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of New London Food Co-op, and is graphic designer for local newspaper, Lakes Area Review.
Heather Peebles
Heather Peebles uses art as a mediator for healing communally and personally. They hold and facilitate space for communities to draw, write, paint, laugh, and move together with goals to share knowledge, grow, and collectively heal.
Heidi Jeub
Heidi Jeub is a multi-disciplinary visual artist from St. Joseph, Minnesota. She received a B.A. in Studio Art and a Masters of Professional Studios in Arts & Cultural Leadership, both at the University of Minnesota. She has shared her art with communities as a teaching artist since 2003, and has received the Emerging Artist Award (CMAB) and the Outstanding Contributor to the Arts of Morrison County with FWAC. In 2019, she was awarded the opportunity to build the Tiny School of Art & Design to build community through the foundations of art.
Janette Yiran
Janette Yiran is the Dean of students and an EL teacher at St. Cloud Math & Science Academy, and is also the organizer of the city’s annual Fred Yiran African Arts Day. She’s a mother of 3, and strongly believes in personal and academic development.
Jeannine Burnette
Jeannine Burnette is a musician and arts administrator in the Twin Cities scene. She enjoys playing trumpet at festivals, orchestras and rock bands. While graduating with a M.A. in Arts and Cultural Management in 2019, since 2015 she has been employed as a Program Associate on the Arts & Cultures grantmaking team at Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.
Jesus Ramirez
Jesus earned his AA at MCTC, BA in Education from Metropolitan State University and is currently enrolled at MSU completing the MA in Urban Education program. Jesus is completing his 12th year in public and private schools and has taught in both primary and secondary settings. Jesus is an Equity Teacher/Coach within the district office, which allows him to champion educational equity, engagement, and achievement levels by supporting educators in their understanding of how race intersects with education. He has designed and delivered professional development at local, state, and national levels, he specializes in racial consciousness development and is highly knowledgeable in Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory and CCAR protocol. Nationwide, he has been recognized as a leader in the LatinX community regarding issues on race and education.
Sarah Swedburg
Sarah Swedburg is the City Planner & Coordinator of the Willmar Main Street program for the City of Willmar, MN. With a background in human geography, she is passionate about how people make place out of space in rural settings. Sarah enjoys creating opportunities for people to share their stories & building agency for civic/political engagement. When she's at home, you can find her cooking up a storm in the kitchen or dreaming up new garden space.
Jonathan Wong
Jonathan Wong is the Regional Communications Specialist for the Minnesota Department of Human Rights’ only regional office in St. Cloud. Jonathan is passionate about social justice and raising social equity. He is involved multiple organizations such as the advisory board of Jugaad Leadership Program, a program that trains, places, and connects emerging leaders of color to lead in the local community; and most recently working on statewide and regional initiatives that aim to address racism at the systemic levels with different approaches including policy changes and through arts and culture.
Katarina Hansen
Katarina Hansen, a former homeschooler, is a sophomore at SCSU. She is double majoring in Biomedical Science and Statistics. Her ultimate goal is researching Alzheimer’s disease in the Hispanic community. Her passion is Autism Awareness and proving to the world that young people with autism can achieve greatness.
Lydia Four Horns
Lydia Four Horns is an Arts Consultant, with a BFA in Fashion Design from Pratt Institute School of Art & Design in New York City and AFA in Museum Studies and 3D Design from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, MN. Born to an Oneida mother from Wisconsin and a Sicangu Lakota father, she is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. She is a strong advocate for arts, culture and preservation heritage initiatives as proven throughout her 17 years in museum management; cultural programming; planning and economic development for Native tribes. Ms. Four Horns current project is working to learn about traditional indigenous weaving techniques of the Midwest and utilizing this practice/process as connecting to native landscapes through a new and old form of art & craft making.
Kia Lee
Kia is a daughter of Hmong refugees. In Fall 2018, Kia graduated with a Graphic Design BFA from the University of Minnesota. She is passionate about creating a more just and compassionate world through design and visual storytelling. She also enjoys facilitating spaces that encourage folks to celebrate and critically reflect on their identities. She is currently a Community Designer at The SEAD Project.
Mayumi Park
I am a queer Okinawan-Korean graphic designer, illustrator, housing/food activist, and creative collaborator based in Minneapolis, but am also very involved in St. Paul through community engagement work at Public Art Saint Paul and the Art of Food in Frogtown and Rondo Coalition. The word “decommodify” has been my philosophical beacon as I learn and shape my actions alongside other people within mutual aid-solidarity spaces that are building power towards liberation and land justice. One of my goals is to form a community-run design cooperative with creatives who are also envisioning a decommodified, liberated future.
Libbie Anderson
Libbie Anderson is a songwriter, singer and community space maker. She loves to bring together diverse groups of people through her love of music and also help make the connections between music and movement, love, laughter and joy. Libbie recently moved back to Minnesota after being in Colorado for 10 years and now lives in New London, MN. She volunteers with several local non-profits leading family music classes in order to make music assessable and available to all.