Robert served as a member and Board Member for the Twin Cities Film Festival and on numerous media arts funding panels throughout the country, including Tribeca Film Institute, The Independent Television Service (ITVS), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and various state agencies. He also served on boards and funding committees of national organizations, including the National Association of Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC),
Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media (GFEM), and the Paul Robeson Fund in New York City. He was on the Advisory Committees of Twin Cities Public Television’s Minnesota Originals (2010, 2012) and the New York State Council on the Arts’ digital media initiative. Daniel Bergin at Twin Cities Public Television posted some of the powerful documentary work produced by Robert: https://www.tptoriginals.org/remembering-ktcas-fearless-producer-robert-byrd/
Robert earned his BA from the University of Chicago. His first years in Minnesota from 1981 to 1985 were as an Associate Director at the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union. He was an adjunct faculty member at Minneapolis College of Art and Design in the Media Arts Department from 2000 to 2004.
Second to the arts, Robert’s great loves were dogs and food. His Keeshonds Leo followed by Lucky were regular greeters at the Jerome Foundation office. He was celebrated for the fabulous gourmet dinners he generously hosted.
Robert’s great spirit will be missed.
