Noah Keesecker, Music, Composition, Multimedia
Springboard Staff
Noah Keesecker is a composer and multimedia artist and has served as an organizer for a number of events in the Twin Cities such as the Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts, the West Bank Arts Quarter Collective, and Salon3136 Concert Series. He has had numerous awards and commissions of his work, including a recent McKnight Foundation Fellowship and American Composers Forum Subito grant. Noah has an M.A. in Music Composition, with a minor in Art, from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. in Music Composition and Theory from Central Michigan University. Noah also served as assistant and office manager for composer Edie Hill and Hummingbird Press.

Zaraawar Mistry, Theatre, Storytelling, Solo Performance
Dreamland Arts
Born in India, Zaraawar Mistry has been a theater artist and consultant in the Twin Cities for over fifteen years. He and his wife, Leslye Orr, currently own and operate Dreamland Arts, a 40-seat theater attached to their home in St. Paul. Earlier they co-founded the Center for Independent Artists in Minneapolis, where Zaraawar served as a consultant and mentor to artists working in various disciplines. He is a writer, actor, director, storyteller and the creator of several original theatrical works. He has worked at the Guthrie, Children’s Theater Company, Mixed Blood, Theater Mu, Ragamala Music and Dance Theater and also worked as a community programs coordinator at the Walker Art Center. Zaraawar has an M.F.A. in Theatre from UC, San Diego and a B.A. from Bennington College in Vermont. He has received multiple grants from the Jerome Foundation, Playwrights' Center and the Minnesota State Arts Board. In 2007, he was an Adjunct Professor at Hamline University.

Kathleen Richert, Visual Arts
Springboard Staff
A Minnesota native, Kathleen Richert graduated magna cum laude from the School for American Craft at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, with a BFA in Textile Design. She was awarded a residency at the Shelburne Craft School, Shelburne, VT, in 1992. She teaches and shows her artwork regionally and nationally, and has work in both public and private collections, including the Minnesota Historical Society and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, and the American Swedish Institute. Kathleen has run a business for ten years designing and creating clothing and soft props for museums, theater, commercial and private clients. In 2006, Kathleen received a Jerome Foundation/Minnesota Center for Book Arts Fellowship. Kathleen is responsible for the design of Springboard's Work of Art: Business Skills for Artists workshop curriculum and has presented Springboard workshops all over Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas.

David Unowsky, Writing & Publishing
Bookseller and Publisher
For 34 years, David Unowsky owned and ran Hungry Mind, (later known as Ruminator) one of America's great bookstores which also fostered a literary magazine and a publishing company. He is currently the events manager at Magers and Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis. David was a regular columnist for Bookselling This Week and wrote occasional pieces in Ruminator Review, book reviews for USA Today, and is currently writing for mnartists.org. At Hungry Mind, he helped to build the national author tour market; pioneered in forging relationships and co-sponsorships with other businesses, non-profits, and libraries: and dabbled in multi-media events (music, art, film) with readings.

Katie Ka Vang, Performance, Writing
Center for Hmong Arts and Talent
Katie Ka Vang is a performance artist, writer and diaspora rocker. She has received grants for her work from Jerome Foundation and Minnesota State Arts Board. She has been seen on stages around the Twin Cities and nationally. Her chapbook Never Said is currently available for purchase and her work can be seen in publications such as St. Paul Almanac, Bakka Mag., and Asian American Press. She has an education in Innovation and Marketing Management from Concordia University- St. Paul and has done marketing and promoting for Pangea World Theater, Center for Hmong Arts and Talent, Pillsbury House Theater and other political and grassroots initiatives. She is also a part of the Young Emerging Leaders of Color, a national initiative created by Theater Communications Group, (American Theatre Magazine) focused on identifying faces of performance and creating action plans to connect to the greater community. Katie is the Director of Artist Service and Membership for the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent and is available to meet with artists at Springboard or CHAT.