Arts Experiences

Scott Hebert: Scott has been a staple of the arts community in greater Minnesota since 2008. He began off-stage, taking an interest in technical elements while working with Renegade Theater Company. He joined the newly formed Renegade Improv in 2009, a role he would serve in for nine years and 750 shows. In 2011, his desire to be a storyteller led him on-stage. Over the next seven years, Scott participated in 35 productions with Renegade, The Duluth Playhouse, and Wise Fool Shakespeare. Often taking on multiple responsibilities, Scott proved himself a valuable asset no matter which toolbox he was asked to work from. In 2016, Scott took his talents online, becoming an affiliate content creator for Twitch.tv. In 2018, Scott collaborated with artists from the Duluth theater community to help him create, produce, and perform in Twin Portals, an original Dungeons and Dragons podcast. Over the last five years, Twin Portals has performed twelve live shows to an engaged, passionate, and growing audience while filling in the story with over 100 hours of monthly audio content.; Alexander Mahar: Sandy is a local filmmaker with a Master's in Screenwriting from Maharishi International University. He has volunteered with art programs for the disabled as well as volunteer run theaters.; Peng Nelson: Peng is the PhD student of Culture and Teaching and instructor at University of Minnesota. Peng is a board member of Chinese Language Teacher Association Minnesota and a volunteer at Minneapolis Institute of Art. ; Marynel Ryan Van Zee: Ryan Van Zee is the director of student fellowships at Carleton College in Northfield, where she works with students and alumni applying for external awards and administers an internal fellowships program. Minnesota State Arts Board experience includes serving as an Operating Support artistic evaluator (FY22) and grant application reviewer (FY23). She has also served as an evaluator for the Congress-Bundestag CBYX program, the Critical Language Scholarship Program, and the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship Foundation. From 2005-2015, she was a faculty member at the University of Minnesota Morris, where she reviewed applications for internal grants and secured grant funding.