Annual Review 2021
Jumaane Taylor Photo by William Frederking
Our Mission The Cowles Center is a dance and performing arts hub that promotes movement and growth for artists through supportive programs and spaces; engages audiences through dynamic performances; and educates learners of all ages through robust and inclusive education initiatives.
By Joe and Jen Photo
Our Vision We program an exciting season annually, representing more than 20 local artists and companies that showcase the depth and breadth of the Twin Cities professional dance scene. We partner with artists and companies in our season by providing subsidized marketing and production support, letting the artists focus on their performances. We educate through high-quality arts learning programs, serving students of all ages statewide, via residencies, workshops, and student matinees.
Photo by Isabel Fajardo
We support the growth and life cycle of dancers and companies through our below-market-rate offices, studios, and stages; and through community engagement programs, McKnight Fellowships, and our MERGE program.
Cowles Council 2021
Executive Leadership Elizabeth Brama, Chair Partner, Taft Stettinius & Hollister
Karen Charles, Vice-Chair Artistic Director, Threads Dance Project
Masami Kawazato, Secretary Program Director, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council
Shannon Powell, Treasurer Partner, Audit - KPMG
Council Pauline Pieper Allison Global Platform Director 3M
Erinn Liebhard Artistic Director Rhythmically Speaking
Hanna Coleman Director of Corporate Development Xcel Energy
Patrick Mosher Community Volunteer
Reece Devlin Partner Ernst & Young LLP
Thomas R. Pack Shareholder Greenberg Traurig
Allison Gelfman Relationship Executive JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Amit Poddar Senior Vice President, Head of Trust & Planning U.S. Bank
Lisa Hake Vice President of Marketing & Communications Great Clips
Breia Schleuss Partner Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Amelia Hardy Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Inclusion and Diversity Best Buy
Jason Stamm Head of Practice Management U.S. Bank Wealth Management U.S. Bank
Programs & Education Advisory Committee Sponsored by
Click here to find out more about how Taft delivers results for its clients, communities, and each other.
As The Cowles Center looks to shape programs into the future, it is imperative that we have input from the diversity of voices in our community. The Cowles Center formed the Programs & Education Advisory Committee in Fall 2020 with representatives who offered to provide insights, guidance, and feedback to The Cowles Center's programming - which encompasses everything from the Goodale and TEK BOX curated seasons, to community engagement initiatives for artists, and our education programs for youth to adult learners. Each of these program areas provide different ways for the individuals we engage to grow artistically. The Cowles Center was intentional in soliciting the participation of BIPOC individuals, LGBTQIA2+ representatives, and people with disabilities to form this committee. Committee members were chosen via an application process reviewed by the members of the Cowles Council’s Programs and Education Committee.
Amelia Hardy Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Inclusion and Diversity at Best Buy
Masami Kawazato, Program Director at Metropolitan Regional Arts Council
Debra Bulluck Attorney
Melissa Clark Founder of COHORTS Collective
Erinn Liebhard Artistic Director of Rhythmically Speaking
Nancy Xiong Co-Founder & Co-Director for Elite Family Dance
Karen Charles Artistic Director of Threads Dance Project
Ricardo Torres-Rivera Entrepreneur & owner of a technology consulting company
Maia Maiden Maia Maiden Productions
Suchi Sairam Artist, entrepreneur, and business professional
Cowles Center Teaching Artists Our Teaching Artists are professional dancers, choreographers, and experienced educators who use innovative approaches to bring dance into classrooms through our Arts in Education programs
Anat Shinar Creative Movement and Israeli Folk Dance
Erinn Liebhard American Social Dance, Creative Movement, Modern, and Jazz
Roxane Wallace Afro-Modern, Creative Movement, and Modern
Blake Nellis Contact Improvisation, Creative Movement, and Interdisciplinary Dance
Derek Phillips Creative Movement and Modern
Djenane Saint Juste Caribbean Dance, Creative Movement, Folkloric Haitian Dances, and Latin Social Dance
Karla Nweje Afro-Modern, Modern, Percussive, and Soul Dance
Lisa Berman Breaking and Hip Hop
Renee Guitarr Ballet, Creative Movement, Latin Social Dance, Musical Theater, and Jazz
Rush Benson Musical Theater & Percussive
Scott Stafford Creative Movement, Modern, Vogue, and Jazz
Susana Di Palma Flamenco
Performances and Events 2021 meant a full calendar for The Cowles Center! Rising to meet COVID-19 challenges, we continued to meet our mission and provide programming. Our Spring 2021 performance season was entirely virtual and featured performances postponed in 2020, thereby honoring contracts and relationships with performance artists. Summer and Fall 2021 took a decidedly celebratory turn with the return of responsible in-person performances.
Spring 2021
Date(s)
Elori Saxl - Premiere of single "Before Blue" Presented in partnership with The Great Northern
February 1
THE MIXTAPE Collective
February 26-27
MERGES IN MARCH March 5-7 Hatch Dance & STRONGmovement "H Y B R I D" Penelope Freeh & Alanna Morris-Van Tassel "Bring it down under your March 12-14 feet" March 19-21 Berit Ahlgren & Nathan Keepers "Give Ear"
L-R: Helen Hatch & Darrius Strong; Penelope Freeh & Alanna Morris-Van Tassel; Berit Ahlgren & Nathan Keepers. Photos by Shelly Mosman
Family Days Explore Haitian Dance with Djenane Saint Juste Flamenco con Abuelita with Susana Di Palma
April 3 April 24
Djenane Saint Juste Photo by Isabel Fajardo
"Freddie - Break Free: A Ballet in the Making" (Ballet Co.Laboratory)
April 8
"Exploring Enchantment" (Minnesota Dance Theatre)
April 15
2021 Strawberry Festival: A Student Showcase (Minnesota Dance Theatre & School)
May 28-29
Performances and Events Summer 2021
Date(s)
Minnesota Dance Theatre's Spring Season
June 11-13
Trab: Video Premiere featuring Generating Room artist Sarah Abdel-Jelil
June 28
Open Audition with Ayumi Shafer
July 26
"Diaspora: A Mother's Elegy" by Hmong Center for Arts and Talent with Hudson Ballet and Ballet Co.Laboratory
August 28
Fall 2021
Joseph "MN Joe" Tran Photo by V. Paul Virtucio
Date(s)
"SOLO: Six World-Premiere Dance Films" by McKnight Foundation Dance Fellows
September 18
"James Sewell Ballet's 30th Anniversary Retrospective"
October 16-17
"Twin Cities Tap Festival Concert" Presented by The Cowles Center, Northrop, and the Twin Cities Tap Festival
October 21-23
"Awake. Alive. Anew." by Threads Dance Project
November 6-7
Generating Room Artist: Ayumi Shafer
November 19
Ashwini Ramaswamy's "Let the Crows Come"
November 20-21
"Who Brought the Humbug?" Co-presented by The Cowles Center & Rhythm Street Movement
December 10-19
"Who Brought the Humbug?" Photo courtesy of Rhythm Street Movement
Programs and Resources for Artists
Generating Room The Cowles Center's Generating Room program is a 6month long studio residency that supports three Minnesota Artists and/or Collectives in nurturing a work in progress through 100 hours of free rehearsal space as well as marketing and administrative support. This program is intended for artists at any stage of their career who need time and space to develop a project or idea rooted in dance without the pressure of a completed end product.
Open Office Hours Artists in the community are encouraged to sign up for 30-minute consultations every second Wednesday of the month through The Cowles Center's Open Office Hours Program. Subject areas include but are not limited to: Professional development Resume building Interview strategies Networking tools within the local and national dance community
Creative Conversations These conversations are a space for artists and arts administrators to gather and seek personal and professional guidance. The Cowles Center brings in guest community experts to speak with attendees on topics such as: De-complicating health care Tax tips for artists How to assemble a great work sample.
2021 Generating Room Artists & Collectives: Andréa Janelle Potter Gabriel Rodreick Ayumi Shafer Ayumi Shafer
The McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers annually awards three $25,000 fellowships to Minnesota choreographers and three $25,000 fellowships to Minnesota dancers.
Support for individual artists has been a focus of the McKnight Foundation’s Arts & Culture program since its inception. The Cowles Center is the administrative home for the McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers & Dancers.
The awards are unrestricted and can help an artist set aside periods of time for study, reflection, experimentation, and exploration; to take advantage of an opportunity; or work on a new project.
The Fellowships are designed to enrich and strengthen our community by acknowledging the accomplishments of individual choreographers and dancers and providing for their artistic growth.
2021 McKnight Choreographers (l-r): Alanna Morris, Ananya Chatterjea, Darrius Strong
2021 McKnight Dancers (l-r): Alexandra Eady, David Stalter Jr., Hassan Ingraham
Arts In Education Every. Body. Dances.
First Moves connects motor skill development with critical thinking, social interacting, and creativity. By bringing dance and creative movement to firstgrade children during a crucial transitional year, First Moves promotes essential learning and studying habits that students will rely on throughout their education and working life.
Dance without Barriers brings free, high-quality dance learning experiences to elementary, middle, and high school classrooms in the Twin Cities, Greater MN, and beyond. By using innovative distance learning technology, the usual barriers of cost and transportation are eliminated and students have access to arts learning opportunities.
Creations empowers high school students to choreograph their own dances and make creative connections with their peers.
2021 Impact by the Numbers Number of schools: 10 Number of students: 562 Number of sessions: 144 Number of classrooms: 45
Number of schools: 21 Number of students: 1,278 Number of sessions: 219 Number of classrooms: 54
Number of schools: 5 Number of students: 121 Number of sessions: 51 Number of classrooms: 5 Master Class Students: 56
Total sessions: 16 Total participants served: 15 MovementWise is designed to address the needs of an aging community by encouraging active physical and social participation while engaging the mind, significantly enriching the lives and health of older adults.
Arts in Education Every. Body. Dances.
The majority of students who experienced Arts in Education programming in 2021 are BIPOC and/or receive free/reduced lunch.
"Students were able to make connections to previous learning we have done (place value), but in a more interactive way. As a teacher, it was really cool to see students actually applying what we have learned to something else." Megan Aanonsen - 2nd Grade Teacher at Mississippi Creative Arts
"For some students, Latin social dance such as Bachata and Salsa is something they learned at home and I feel like it was super validating for them to see something they see as their home culture being honored and taught in their dance class." Megan Marcy - Dance Specialist Teacher at Anoka High School
"We have a science unit called "Balance and Motion." This workshop works perfectly. We made good connections to the vocabulary, we got to move our bodies, and we got to learn in a new way." Ashley Mossey - 2nd Grade Teacher at Moreland Arts and Health Sciences
Spaces Event and Theater Rentals
Creative & Office Space for Lease
The Cowles Center has played host to events ranging from TEDxMinneapolis and pre-show receptions to lunch-hour meetings. Spaces available include: Goodale Theater U.S. Bank Atrium & Lobby TEK BOX Theater Target Education Studio
Located on Hennepin Avenue and next door to the Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue light rail stop, The Cowles Center offers the perfect opportunity for small businesses to be a part of Downtown Minneapolis. Our office and practical-use space leases serve a wide range of professions in a historic downtown landmark with like-minded neighbors.
Studio Rentals
Partnership with Body Prayers
Access to comfortable, professional dance space is very much needed by Minnesota’s dance artists, teachers, and students. In response to this need, The Cowles Center provides a variety of dance studio spaces available for dancers to rent.
The Cowles Center is providing the organization Body Prayers (led by DejaJoelle) with in-kind rental space as one way to implement meaningful DEIA impact in Cowles spaces.
Fun Fact: In 2021 alone, over 13,000 hours were completed in our dance studios!
The mission of Body Prayers is to make Self Love and healing through dance a more accessible concept in communities of color as well as "disabled" communities. To learn more, visit bodyprayersaesthetic.com.
Event Recap Over $60,000 was raised to expand The Cowles Center’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) initiatives! Taft to be the official sponsor of The Cowles Center’s Programs & Education Advisory Committee! Fall Forward Festival (coming in fall 2022!)
Top: Duniya Drum & Dance; Bottom L-R: Rhythmically Speaking, audience. Photos by Tommy Sar.
DecaDANCE featured performances by Rhythmically Speaking and Duniya Drum & Dance Company, desserts from The Copper Hen Cakery & Kitchen, drinks from Gold Room Restaurant & Bar, and dinner at Gluek's Restaurant & Bar.
Institutional Supporters The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts is a nonprofit organization that relies on many sources of funding to provide access to exceptional performing arts and education programs as well as to provide stability for dance artists. We deeply appreciate the support we receive from individual, foundation, and corporate sources.
Boss Foundation
Fun Fact: Our budget breaks down to 18% operations / 82% programming!
Individual Supporters $1,000-2,499 $5,000-25,000 Anonymous Elizabeth & Joseph Brama Michelle Grabanski Pohlad & William Pohlad The Serendipitous Leverage Fund Susan & Robert White Margaret V.B. Wurtele
$2,500-4,999 Anonymous Pauline and Tylor Allison Patrick and Carrie Chevalier Mosher Jane Sage Cowles Matthew and Gretchen Damon Reece Devlin Thomas Pack & Matt Mansh Shannon Powell & Tony Trout Dr. Gerald Timm & Mrs. Susan E. Timm
Anonymous Hanna Coleman Cinda J. Collins Mrs. Douglas Dayton Kayte Eager S. Asim Gul David & Leni Moore Archana Ramaswamy & Rumi Faizer Karen & Steve Sonnenberg
$500-999 Anonymous The Douglas & Mary Staughton Jones Foundation Fiona & Chuck Anderson Charles Cowles & Constance Mayeron Cowles Tessa Flores & Ira Goldstein Allison & Michael Gelfman Katherine & Kingsley Murphy John Ollmann Kodi Verhalen
$250-499
Please contact Mary Meyers at 312.485.4063 or mary.meyers@artspace.org to correct any inaccuracies found within the pages of this Annual Review.
Anonymous Chas Anderson Karen & Ken Charles John Cowles & Page Knudsen Cowles Eleanor R. Crosby Ian and Carol Friendly Leland & Beverly Gehrke Lisa & Jason Hake Stefan Helgeson Steve Hoffmann Stephanie & Gregg Larsen Kelley Lindquist Cady & Travis Mattson Robert & Mary Mersky Brandon & Melissa Novy Lee Piechowski Mark Rise Thomas Ruter Breia & Ben Schleuss Heather Thoerner Tyler Young
$100 - 249 Tim Anderstrom Anonymous Howard Ansel Stephanie Aronson Paul Aslanian Adam Bauer Doris Baylor Elisabeth R. Bennett Alyssa Caligaris Ruth and Ralph Colby Teri Cuddy Rachel Doran Eleanor Dvorak Greg Foley Catherine Gasiorowicz Chris Goble Scot Gore Rachelle Haroldson & Matt Fransen Matt Harris Becky Heist Val Herring Doug Seim & Kathleen HokemeirSeim Dave Holcomb David Hunter Masami Kawazato & Aaron Merrill April Klein Rachel and Paul Koep Andy Lanik Peter and Jane Lefferts Erinn Liebhard & Kristoffer Olson Kaye Lockrem Laurel M Gamm Darren McGann Miles Mercer James Norris Denis Pelli Brian Pietsch Scott Riphenburg Tamara Rogers Natalie Roholt Sheryl Saterstrom Eleanor Savage Paul Schumann Rebecca Shockley Libby Stennes Megan Tardiff Ricardo Torres-Rivera Family Turner Laura Vitelli Brenda Cornelius & William Weisert Ted Winker
The Cowles Center's Story The creation of The Cowles Center was made possible through Artspace Projects, Inc., the nation's leading nonprofit arts developer and the current owner/operator of The Cowles Center. Learn more about Artspace and its work at www.artspace.org
Since 2011 we have welcomed more than 1,000,000 audience members, students, and artists through our doors. Our historic arts campus has become a dynamic hub of creativity, innovation, education, and diversity—resulting in a vibrant arts community to live, work, and play.
Leadership & Staff (as of Dec. 31, 2021) Kelley Lindquist President kelley.lindquist@artspace.org
Will Law Chief Operations Officer will.law@artspace.org
Kathleen Kvern Senior Vice President, National Advancement kathleen.kvern@artspace.org
Tionenji Aiken Vice President, Communications & Community Engagement tio.aiken@artspace.org
Jessi Fett, Co-Director Director of Programming & Education jfett@thecowlescenter.org
Joseph Bingham, Co-Director Director of Operations & Production bingham@thecowlescenter.org
Freddie Houston Vice President, Performance Property Management freddie.houston@artspace.org Elyse Chambers Marketing & Programs Manager echambers@thecowlescenter.org
Kristy Haupt Head Carpenter khaupt@thecowlescenter.org
Nu Lee Director, Finance nu.lee@artspace.org
Shantez Christianson Visitor Services Coordinator schristianson@thecowlescenter.org
Garvin Jellison Head Electrics gjellison@thecowlescenter.org
Dana Mattice Director, National Advancement dana.mattice@artspace.org
Tameka Davidson Education Manager tdavidson@thecowlescenter.org
Lee Jin Graphic Designer lee.jin@artspace.org
Mary Meyers Individual Gift Manager mary.meyers@artspace.org
Colin Edwards McKnight Fellowships Program Associate cedwards@thecowlescenter.org
Hannah Johnson Visitor Services Manager hjohnson@thecowlescenter.org
Arlo Myren Head of Video Production amyren@thecowlescenter.org
Wallace Fleming Head Sound wfleming@thecowlescenter.org
Dana K. Kassel McKnight Fellowships Program Director dkassel@thecowlescenter.org
Facilities & Custodian Staff: David Lopez Cuate Fortino Martinez Jonathan Vazquez
Greg Foley Director, Asset Management greg.foley@artspace.org
Bob Janson Kelley Facility Manager bjansonkelley@thecowlescenter.org
Front-of-House Staff: Sarah Abdel-Jelil, Heather Baldwin, Sophie Fett, Ginny Sutton, Alexandra Whitman
Amanda Sachs Photo by Isabel Fajardo