Community Partners

These are just some of the government agencies, arts institutions, performing art venues and places that have informed our learning about democracy and the arts in this course. For each of our community partners, we’ve listed the individuals who so generously facilitated our experiences, gave their time, and shared their expertise with us during our course. In no particular order:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Phoebe Hillemann (Teacher Institutes Educator)
Geoffrey Cohrs (Docent Coordinator)
Elizabeth Dale-Deines (Teacher Programs Coordinator)

National Museum of Women in the Art

Ashley Harris (Associate Educator)

Attucks Adams Tour of U St. and Black Broadway

Tim Wright (owner and founder)

Office of Congresswoman Angie Craig, MN-2

Myles Ambrose (Legislative Correspondent)

Office of Senator Tina Smith, MN

Senator Tina Smith
Andrew Bremer, Ph.D. (Education Policy and Bioengineering Fellow)

Office of Senator Amy Klobuchar, MN

Senator Amy Klobuchar
Evan Quinnell (Deputy Press Secretary; St. Olaf alumnus)

National Museum of the American Indian

Elaine Webster (Assistant Director of Advancement)
Zandra Wilson (Program Assistant, Museum Advancement)
Mandy Van Heuvelen (Cultural Interpreter Program Coordinator)
Beth Bentley (Assistant Director, Marketing & Communications)

National Endowment for the Arts

Jennie Terman (Artist Communities, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Specialist)
Beth Bienvenu (Accessibility Director)
Avril Claytor (Media Arts Specialist)
Meg Brennan (Visual Arts Specialist)
Amy Stolls (Literary Arts Director)
Cliff Murphy (Folk & Traditional Arts Director, Acting Director Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works)

National Endowment for the Humanities

Margaret Walker (Program Officer, Division of Preservation and Access)
Jill Austin (Senior Program Director, Division of Public Programs)

Theater J

Jojo Ruff (Managing Director)
Chad Kinsman (Director of Patron Experience)

Library of Congress

Mark Dimunation (Chief, Rare Books and Special Collections; St. Olaf alumnus)
Dr. Stephanie Stillo (Curator of the Lessing J. Rosenwald Graphic Arts Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collection Division)

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Betty Siegel (Director of Accessibility and VSA)
Heather Hicks (Accessibility Program Assistant)
Diane Nutting (Independent Accessibility and Inclusion Consultant; part of arts access panel at Kennedy Center)
Roger Ideishi (Professor of Health, Human Function, and Rehabilitation Sciences, George Washington University; part of arts access panel at Kennedy Center)

Washington National Opera

Kathleen Dean (Executive Assistant to the General Manager)

DuPont Underground

Robert Meins (CEO)

National Portrait Gallery

Smitsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Greg Adams (Assistant Archivist)
Amalia Córdova (Latino Digital Curator)
Jim Deutsch, Ph.D. (Curator)
Cristina Díaz-Carrera (Curator)
Julia Gutierrez (Program Curator)
Meredith Holmgren (Curator, American Women’s Music)
Sojin Kim (Curator)
Nichole Procopenko (Program Curator)

Americans for the Arts

Randy Cohen (VP, Research and Policy)
Lauren Cohen (Federal Affairs and Grassroots Senior Coordinator)

Washington Performing Arts

Trisha Taylor (Assistant Director of Education)
Michelle Hoffmann (Director of Education & Community Engagement)
Hannah Grove-DeJarnett (Associate Director of External Relations)

Folger Shakespeare Theatre

Beth Emelson (Associate Director of Public Programs and Associate Artistic Producer)
Emma Poltrack, Ph.D. (Public Programs Assistant)
Elizabeth DeBold (Assistant Curator of Collections)

Ermyn King, Registered Drama Therapist and freelance teaching artist

DancePlace