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Panelists

Jerome Hill Artist Fellow Mazz Swift. Photo by Nisha Sondhe Photography.

Jerome Foundation engages artists and arts leaders to assist with the review of applications for our grant programs. These panelists have direct experience with early career artists and a deep knowledge of their respective arts field/s. Panelists are asked to review the applications based on explicit review criteria, which are identified in the guidelines for each program, and to assess the applicant’s fit with the Foundation’s values of diversity, innovation and risk, and humility.

Panelists frequently have had prior experience with Jerome through either participation in Jerome-funded programs or direct grants support from the Foundation. The Foundation rigorously adheres to standards of conflict of interest to assure that no panelist reviews materials or participates in a discussion about an application in which they have a vested interest or are involved, whether directly or indirectly.

Dance Panelists

  • Jonah Bokaer, choreographer and media artist and co-founder of Chez Bushwick
  • Barbara Bryan, Executive Director, Movement Research
  • Karen Charles, Artistic Director, Threads Dance Project
  • Ananya Chatterjea, Artistic Director of Ananya Dance Theatre
  • Thomas DeFrantz, Director of SLIPPAGE@Duke
  • Emily Johnson, choreographer and Artistic Director of Catalyst Dance
  • Craig Peterson, Artistic Director of Abrons Arts Center and Deputy Program Officer for Visual and Performing Arts at Henry Street Settlement
  • Toni Pierce-Sands, Artistic Director, TU Dance
  • Will Rawls, Brooklyn-based Writer, Choreographer and Performer
  • Rosy Simas, choreographer and Director of Rosy Simas Dance
  • Clarissa Soto Josephs, Associate Director, Pentacle
  • Daniel Stark, choreographer and Associate Professor at Minnesota State University
  • Pamela Tatge, Director, Jacob’s Pillow
  • Pramila Vasudevan, choreographer, dancer and founder of Aniccha Arts, program director of Naked Stages
  • Julie  Voigt, Senior Program Officer of Performing Arts, Walker Art Center
  • Sixto Wagan, former Executive Director of Diverse Works and Director of the Center for Arts and Social Engagement at the University of Houston
  • Martin Wechsler, former Director of Programming at the Joyce Theater
  • Arwen Wilder, Twin Cities-based dancer and choreographer, co-founder of the choreographic duo, HIJACK
  • DeeArah Wright, mover, strategist, Education and Programs Consultant for Brooklyn Children’s Museum and former Associate Artistic Director of JACK
  • Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, founder/visioning partner of Urban Bush Women

Film, Video and Digital Production & New Media Panelists

  • Anthony Adah, Professor, Minnesota State University Moorhead, School of Media Arts & Design
  • Akosua Adoma Owusu, filmmaker and director
  • Claire Aguilar, Director of Programming and Policy, International Documentary
  • Association
  • Toni Bell, Filmmaker Services Manager at the International Documentary Association
  • Daniel Bergin, Senior Producer at Twin Cities Public Television—Jerome grantee
  • Hisham Bizri, writer and former Professor of Filmmaking and Screenwriting in the Literary Arts Department at Brown University
  • Hafed Bouassida, film producer and chair of the Cinema Division at Minneapolis Technical and Community College
  • Mridu Chandra, Documentary Producer and Director IF/Then Shorts, Tribeca Film Institute
  • Rachel Chanoff, Director, The Office performing arts + films
  • Santanu Chatterjee, cinema faculty member at Minneapolis Community & Technical College
  • Cecilia Cornejo, media studies instructor at Carleton College in Northfield
  • Valerie Deus, Film Curator and Programmer at FilmNorth’s Cinema Lounge and Programmer for the Provincetown International Film Festival
  • Deb Girdwood, Moving Image Department Program Manager, Walker Art Center and former curator Childish Films
  • Johannes Goebel, Founding Director of Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • Leya Hale, Producer at Twin Cities Public Television
  • Ruth Hodgins, Bentson Archivist and Programmer at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis
  • Rasu Jilani, independent curator, social sculptor and entrepreneur
  • Ruby Lerner, former Executive Director of Creative Capital Foundation and of the Association of Independent Film and Videomaker (AIVF)
  • Wendy Levy, Executive Director of the Alliance for Media Arts + Culture
  • Lu Lippold, Producer, Twelve Plus Media
  • Aliza Ma, Head of Programming at New York Metrograph
  • Michelle Materre, Associate Professor of Media Studies and Film at the New School
  • John Mhiripiri, Director, Anthology Film Archives
  • Robb A. Mitchell, Communications, PLACE: Projects Linking Arts, Community & Environment
  • Moon Molson, filmmaker and Associate Professor, Princeton University
  • Paola Mottura, Program Manager, Independent Filmmaker Project
  • Alyce Myatt, consultant and former Director of the NEA Media Program and PBS Executive
  • Justine Nagan, Executive Producer and Executive Director of POV & America ReFramed/American Documentary
  • Jenni Olson, Film Curator, filmmaker, author and LGBT film historian
  • Raúl O. Paz Pastrana, filmmaker
  • Sarah Peters, Co-Director of NorthernLights.mn
  • Maret Polzine, filmmaker, independent curator, host of FilmNorth’s Cinema Lounge, and teaching artist at COMPAS
  • Jose Rodriguez, Director of Documentary Programs at Tribeca Film Institute
  • Jules Rosskam, filmmaker, artist and educator
  • Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, MoMA
  • Jeffrey Scher, experimental filmmaker and media arts faculty member at both the School for Visual Arts and Tisch School of the Arts (NYU)
  • Dan Sickles, filmmaker and director
  • Kristine Sorenson, Executive Director of In Progress
  • Jiny Ung, filmmaker and animation artist
  • Rosa Valado, visual artist and founder and director of The Greenpoint Film Festival
  • Missy Whiteman, independent filmmaker
  • John C. Woo, Executive Director for Asian CineVision; and founder and president of Woo Art International, a creative services and visual communications firm
  • Kuye Youngblood, Head of Development and Production, BRIC Media
  • Rini Yun Keagy, filmmaker and adjunct faculty at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design
  • Debbie Zimmerman, Executive Director, Women Make Movies
  • Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Emmy award-winning director and editor; teacher at UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art

Literature Panelists

  • Barrie Jean Borich, literary nonfiction author and Associate Professor at DePaul University and editor of Slag Glass City
  • Gabrielle Civil, performance artist, writer, poet and Professor of Critical Studies at CalArts
  • r. erica doyle, poet and facilitator for Tongues Afire
  • Heid Erdrich, poet and founder of Turtle Mountain Writing Workshop
  • Elliott Figman, Executive Director, Poets and Writers
  • Chris Fischbach, publisher of Coffee House Press
  • Kim Foote, writer and Assistant Director of Global Programs, Gallatin School/NYU
  • Carolyn Holbrook, writer, Founder/Curator of More Than a Single Story
  • Chrissy Kolaya, poet and fiction writer, University of Minnesota-Morris
  • Paolo Javier, poet and editor/publisher of 2nd Ave Poetry and Program Director at Poets House
  • Patricia S. Jones, poet and teacher, City University of New York
  • David Mura, writer, memoirist, poet, performance artist and teacher
  • Tony Perez, Senior Editor at Tin House Publishing
  • Marcie Rendon, playwright, poet, and arts activist
  • Gabrielle Rucker, fiction author
  • Chris Santiago, poet, fiction author and Assistant Professor at University of St. Thomas
  • Sun Yung Shin, poet and editor
  • Anton Treuer, nonfiction author and Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University
  • Ellery Washington, fiction author and Associate Professor at the Pratt Institute
  • Diane Wilson, author, past editor for Minnesota Literature; founder and editor of The Artist’s Voice
  • Kao Kalia Yang, writer, teacher, Minnesota Book Award Winner
  • Monica Youn, poet and creative writing lecturer at Princeton University

Music Panelists

  • Doug Benidt, Associate Curator at Walker Art Center
  • Lea Bertucci, interdisciplinary artist, composer and improviser
  • Helga Davis, vocalist and performance artist
  • Amir ElSaffar, trumpeter, composer, santur player, and vocalist
  • Simone Eccleston, Director of Programming at Harlem Stage
  • Douglas Ewart, composer, performer, instrument maker
  • Janis Lane-Ewart, development consultant and media producer
  • Ronen Givony, founder and Artistic Director of the Wordless Music Series and Senior Curator for National Sawdust
  • Michelle Kinney, composer and faculty at the University of Minnesota
  • Miya Masaoka, composer and sound artist
  • Andrea Mazzariello, composer and Assistant Professor of Music at Carleton College
  • Mankwe Ndosi, composer and cultural worker
  • John Nuechterlein, retired President/CEO of American Composers Forum
  • Kate Nordstrum, special projects producer at The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and curator of SPCO’s Liquid Music series
  • Aruán Ortiz, composer
  • Elena Park, Director and Curator at National Sawdust
  • Nirmala Rajasekar, Carnatic veena master, composer, vocalist, and educator
  • Rio Sakairi, Artistic Director at The Jazz Gallery
  • Davu Seru, composer
  • Gargi Shindé, jazz musician, Program Director of Jazz at Chamber Music America
  • Dameun Strange, composer, musician, Executive Director of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association
  • Jeffrey Treviño, Ph.D., composer and Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Carleton College
  • Jeanette Vuocolo, producer, presenter, and former Program Director, Chamber Music America-Jazz
  • C. Spencer Yeh, artist, musician, and electronic composer
  • Bora Yoon, composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, interdisciplinary artist, and educator

Theater, Performance & Spoken Word Panelists

  • Emilya Cachapero, Director of Artistic Programs and International Theater Institute, Theatre Communications Group
  • Sha Cage, playwright, actor, and spoken word poet
  • Michelle Coffey, founder and Executive Director of the Lambent Foundation
  • Hal Cropp, Executive Director, Commonweal Theatre Company
  • Paige Evans, Artistic Director of the Signature Theater
  • Joseph Haj, Artistic Director of the Guthrie Theater
  • Signe Harriday, director and multidisciplinary artist
  • Michelle Hensley, founder and former Artistic Director of Ten Thousand Things
  • Tom Isbell, actor, playwright, and Professor of Theatre at University of Minnesota Duluth
  • Morgan Jenness, dramaturg, manager, director, and associate producer
  • Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Vice-President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at the Kennedy Center
  • Masanari Kawahara, performer, designer, and educator
  • Ellen McLaughlin, playwright and actor
  • James Nicola, Artistic Director of New York Theater Workshop
  • Matthew Paul Olmos, playwright
  • Nicky Paraiso, Director of Programming for The Club at La MaMa and Curator of La MaMa Moves!
  • Ralph Pena, founding member and current artistic director of Ma-Yi Theater Company
  • Faye Price, Co-Artistic Producing Director, Pillsbury House Theatre
  • Sarah Rasmussen, Artistic Director of the Jungle Theater
  • Mark Valdez, former Executive Director of the Network of Ensemble Theaters and freelance director, organizer, consultant and resident artist at Mixed Blood Theater
  • MeiYin Wang, producer and curator of live performance
  • Harry Waters, Jr., actor and theater professor, Macalester College
  • Jay Wegman, director of NYU Skirball Center and former director of Abrons Arts Center
  • Rhiana Yazzie, playwright, director, filmmaker and founder of New Native Theater

Visual Arts Panelists

  • Jim Denomie, painter
  • Gabriel de Guzman Curator and Director of Exhibitions Smack Mellon
  • Tricia Heuring, Curator and Co-Director at Public Functionary
  • Rujeko Hockley, Assistant Curator and Co-Curator of Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum
  • Mike Hoyt, Creative Community Liaison Pillsbury House + Theatre
  • Wing Young Huie, photographer and founder of Third Place Gallery
  • Olukemi Ilesanmi, Executive Director of The Laundromat Project, curator
  • Karissa Isaacs, Associate Curator, Tweed Museum of Art
  • Hitomi Iwasaki, Director of Exhibitions and Curator, Queens Museum of Art
  • Chris Larson, artist, Director at Second Shift, adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota
  • Việt Lê, curator, teacher and visual and performance artist
  • Melissa Levin, Vice President of Artists, Estates and Foundations, Art Agency Partners
  • Natasha Logan, Deputy Director at Creative Time
  • Miguel Luciano, multi-media visual artist and faculty, School of Visual Arts
  • Anna Metcalfe, ceramicist and public artist
  • Jennifer-Navva Milliken, Artistic Director at Center for Art in Wood
  • John Rasmussen, Curator and Director at Midway Contemporary Art
  • Dread Scott, photographer, performance artist and provocateur
  • Colleen Sheehy, President and Executive Director, Public Art St. Paul
  • Megan Vossler, multi-media visual artist
  • Dyani White Hawk, contemporary artist and curator
  • Diane Willow, multi-modal artist and creative catalyst and associate professor in the Department of Art at the University of Minnesota
  • Risë Wilson, founder of the Laundromat Project, and former Chief Programming Officer at Friends of the High Line
  • Rebekah Crisanta de Ybarra, mixed medium visual artist and curator, founder of Electric Machete Studios
  • Laura Youngbird, Curator at Plains Arts Museum