Is there a collective noun for leadership changes? Storm? Sweep? Stampede? Because April saw an unusually high number. For now, we’ll go with “whole lot.”
Sarah Millfelt, executive director of Northern Clay Center for seven years, has announced her resignation. “I have devoted the past 20 years of my life to advancing the ceramic arts and have been privileged to do so on behalf of Northern Clay Center,” Millfelt wrote in a release. Under her watch, NCC’s outreach programs grew, diversity increased, building renovations were made and new equipment acquired. The center rebranded, its website was redesigned and the organization maintained financial stability – no small feat in this economy. The board has begun a national search.
MCAD has named Sanjit Sethi its next president. An artist and academic, Sethi most recently directed the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University. Before then, he served in a variety of leadership positions at the Memphis College of Art, California College of the Arts and Santa Fe Art Institute. Sethi joins MCAD at a time of stability and record enrollment. One of his central goals is to continue to work to create a more sustainable, diverse and inclusive community. He succeeds Jay Coogan, who served as MCAD’s president for nine years until September 2018, and Karen Wirth, who stepped in as interim president. Sethi’s first day is July 15.
Six weeks before Northern Spark 2019, which will take place June 14 and 15, Northern Lights.mn founder Steve Dietz has announced that over the next year, he’ll step away from the everyday administration of the organization, a role he has shared with Sarah Peters for the past year. Peters and the board will develop a succession plan that includes another co-director. Dietz wrote in a statement, “I founded Northern Lights.mn with the simple goal of it being a flexible, resilient platform dedicated to supporting the work of artists. More than ten years later there is much that we have accomplished, from boosting the careers of more than 50 ‘artists on the verge’ to bringing the joy of a city transformed by artists to tens of thousands of people annually to artist takeovers of locks and rivers and train stations and skyscrapers and streets and plazas and other cities. It has been an absolute blast.” For us, too. Those are big shoes to fill.
A month before launching its New Works 4 Weeks Festival 2019, Red Eye Theater announced not one, not two, but seven new artistic directors: Andrew Lee Dolan, Hayley Finn, Emily Gastineau, Rachel Jendrzejewski, Theo Langason, Valerie Oliveiro and Jeffrey Wells. It’s a diverse and experienced dream team. Read about them here so we don’t have to add another thousand words to this column. Co-founders Steve Busa and Miriam Must, who stepped down at the end of 2018, said in a statement, “We are proud and excited to pass the torch to the seven new artistic directors … We look forward to seeing how their vision manifests, as well as the dynamic work that will undoubtedly be coming out of the Red Eye in the years to come.” One of the septet’s tasks will be to establish a new performance space. Last fall, Red Eye lost its longtime space in the Loring Park neighborhood to the wrecking ball.
The picks
Tonight (Thursday, May 2) through Sunday: Taste of Iceland. Eat, drink, listen, watch, and learn about Iceland at a series of events supported by Iceland Naturally, a cooperative marketing organization that wants to tempt you to visit the country. As if we need tempting. Iceland has an actual law that makes it illegal to pay women less than men. A few highlights of Taste: Dinner nightly at the Red Stag with a guest Icelandic chef. Tonight’s free Icelandic cocktails class on the rooftop at the Hewing Hotel. Friday’s free concert at the Fine Line featuring artists from Iceland. Saturday’s short-film festival at the Trylon. And two appearances by Icelandic writer (speculative fiction, poetry, plays, etc.) Andri Snær Magnason: at the Water Bar & Public Studio on Friday and Open Book on Sunday. FMI and Facebook RSVP links. Most events are first-come, first-served.
Friday through Sunday at the O’Shaughnessy: TU Dance 15th Anniversary Season Spring Performance. The dance company formed by former Alvin Ailey dancers Toni Pierce-Sands and Uri Sands has gained national prominence with performances of “Come Through” with Justin Vernon and Bon Iver. At the O’Shaughnessy, they’ll honor four choreographers who helped shape their vision of what dance is and can be. The program will include Ailey’s “Night Creature” (with music by Duke Ellington) and “Witness” (a solo performance by a female dancer), Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s “Walking with Pearl … Africa Diaries,” narrated live by Zollar; and Ronald K. Brown’s “Where the Light Shines Through,” commissioned for TU in 2017. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. FMI and tickets ($34).
Sunday: In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre’s MayDay 2019. This will be MayDay in more ways than one. A cherished south Minneapolis tradition for 45 years, the parade of puppets and people will take place as it always has, winding through community streets to the ceremony and festival at Powderhorn Park. This year’s theme: “Beloved Community,” after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Some 60,000 people are expected to attend. Maybe more, because (sound the alarm!) unless funding can be found, this might be the last MayDay. It costs HOBT about $200,000 to hold its big annual party, a lot of money for any small arts organization, especially in a time when funders are cutting back or shifting their priorities. This will also be the final May Day parade led by HOBT founder and artistic director Sandy Spieler. So it will be historic either way: as a last hurrah or a turning point toward survival. The parade begins at noon. Here’s the route. Here’s information about the Tree of Life Ceremony. Here’s the festival schedule and map. Here’s a free MetroTransit pass. Want to donate?
