Written by Laura Zabel for Medium, 2018.
Community Development Director
Artists Respond
An ongoing series of programming from Springboard for the Arts, Artists Respond brings together artists, culture bearers, community organizers, and thought leaders as a cohort that creates new work in response to Guaranteed Income, repair, and solidarity.
Drew Arretia (he/him, Minneapolis): Drew Arrieta is a documentary photographer and visual artist based in Minneapolis, MN, dedicated to telling human and community-centered stories through his work. He regularly contributes visual storytelling projects at Project Drawdown, a climate solutions non-profit, and Public Functionary, an artist-led exhibition and social space. His work, which often explores themes of resilience and solidarity, has been featured in Vogue, NBC News, and Columbia Journalism Review. A native of New York City, Drew moved to the Twin Cities after beginning his career in political organizing and sustainability initiatives in the music industry. His passion for visual storytelling began during the Minneapolis uprising when he was loaned a camera, leading him to capture and share voices and experiences of underrepresented communities.
Maddy Bartsch (they/them, Northfield, Minneapolis): Maddy Bartsch is a natural dyer, farmer, art educator and organizer of local textile economies. For Maddy, growing local color is their way of contributing to the creation of a thriving decentralized textile economy, free from petroleum-based products. They are the president of the Three Rivers Fibershed and teach on the topics of local fiber systems, mending, and natural dyes to learners of all ages throughout the Midwest.
Mica Lee Anders (she/her, Saint Paul): Mica Lee Anders is a public and teaching artist dedicated to creating space for community art that reclaims history and uplifts underrepresented narratives. With an MFA in visual art, Mica combines her passions for history and art to design unique family history displays and inclusive community exhibits. As a professional genealogist specializing in early Minnesota African American history, she frequently lectures and collaborates with museums and civic organizations to highlight the contributions of often-ignored communities. Mica fosters collective healing and connection through her work, engaging participants in exploring and challenging preconceived notions about local history, inspiring deeper understanding and appreciation.
Vilay Dethluxay (she/her, Nisswa): Vilay Dethluxay is a first-generation Lao creative producer and community connector. Born in a refugee camp in Thailand's southeast Isan region, she proudly attributes her passion for storytelling, community building, and a DIY spirit to her ancestral roots. Some of her past favorite projects include event design for Pollen Midwest and curating events, films, and music for Sound Unseen. Having spent most of her career in big cities outside of Minnesota, Vilay has returned to navigate life in a small rural community and hopes this new environment will shape the next chapter of her creative journey. Currently, she is exploring ideas rooted in her diasporic intersectionality, focusing on shared histories, the loss of her native language, and preserving and honoring her Isan and Lao culture.
David Hamlow (him/him, Good Thunder): David Hamlow is an installation artist working in repurposed packaging and post-consumer waste primarily harvested from his own daily consumption. Hamlow is the recipient of six Minnesota State Arts Board individual artist grants, two McKnight Foundation/Prairie Lakes Region Mid-career grants, and a New York Foundation for Contemporary Art Emergency Opportunity Grant. Hamlow exhibits regionally nationally and internationally. Recent solo installations include In Arcadia Ego at Louisiana Tech School of Design, Ruston LA, Foreign Correspondent at CICA Museum, Gimpo-Si, Republic of South Korea, and Immiscible at the Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls SD. Hamlow teaches Introduction to Visual Culture at Minnesota State University in Mankato Minnesota. He lives and maintains a studio in Good Thunder MN.
Bethany Lacktorin (she/her, New London): Bethany Lacktorin is a performance artist, community organizer and musician and Executive+Artistic Director of Little Theatre Auditorium in rural southwest Minnesota, New London. A Korean adoptee, Bethany's practice explores issues and meaning surrounding identity, displacement and human connections to land, place and shared experience. Bethany is a sound designer/composer with 20+ years in the field. Bethany studied violin at Lawrence University, received her AAS in Music Production at McNally Smith College of Music and BFA in Experimental Media at Prague College School of Art & Design.
Cassandra Losh/Iron House Arts (they/them, Mille lacs Reservation/Minneapolis): "We are indigenous artists, who aim to focus on cultural connection and empowerment through art. We create art using wood burning, ink, pencil that shares our culture and heritage. We enjoy sharing through art. We create art to create awareness about our beautiful heritage. Art liberating and a spiritual act for us, we enjoy."
Alo Osberg (they/them, Minneapolis): Alo is a placeling, an artist and artisan. They make conceptual art, public art, and performance art that is often devised in collaboration with other artists and the more-than-human world. Alo makes art because while it can feel frivolous or futile in the face of mounting precarity and persistent injustices, art is what makes life worth fighting for. When they are not question-asking and wonder-making, they are carving timber frames, teaching boat building and foraging mushrooms.
Maren Ward (they/them, South Minneapolis): Maren Ward has been performing, directing and theater-making in Minnesota for over three decades. She is drawn to create and participate in theater that is community driven celebratory, absurd, chaotic, spectacle, magic. Maren has been director of the zAmya Theater Project since its founding in 2004. zAmya uses the powerful combination of lived experiences and artistic expression to inspire housing justice. She's also a pretty good actor with a knack for comedic male characters. She has trained at Macalester College, the Moscow Art Theater, Cornerstone Theater, and Sojourn Theater/Center for Performance and Civic Practice.
Resources on Rural-Urban Solidarity
Written by Annie Chester for Expatalachians, 2020.
Written by Mary Vitcenda for the University of Minnesota Extension, 2011.