Craig Harris is Artistic Director of Interference Arts and is a composer, performer and writer. Harris creates multimedia stage works and interactive sculptural environments. He has collaborated with dance theater companies Ballet of the Dolls, Zorongo Flamenco, Off-Leash Area and Katha Dance Theatre, and served as Music Director on many theater projects.
Harris received a 2016 Right Here Showcase Commission, and has received support from McKnight Foundation, American Composers Forum, Hanson Institute for American Music, and Rimon: the MN Jewish Arts Council.
As Executive Director of Ballet of the Dolls and the Ritz Theater Foundation, he led the initiative to renovate the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis. He was Managing and Interim Director at the Playwrights’ Center, President of the International Computer Music Association, and Executive Director of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology. Harris received a Ph.D. in Composition at Eastman School of Music. Musician/Composer Minneapolis, Minnesota Contact: craig@interferencearts.com
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Karen Daphne McDonald (She/Her) Karen grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended the Art Student’s League in New York. Early on, Karen’s photo-realistic renderings set her work apart. Fascinated by quantum physics and frequency, Karen studied Sacred Geometry and in Australia spent time with a Reiki Master who was able to imbue painted image with prana or chi. One of her aspirations is to create art for public spaces that produces positive, healing changes in quantum field. Karen holds a B.A. in Art and Education, M.A. in Language & Culture and M.F.A. in Writing. She has taught in NewYork, Miami and Santa Fe as well as France, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Republic of Georgia and the U.K.
Check out Karen’s empowering art!
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Kelly Frankenberg ACW Operations Director
Kelly has jumped into every kind of art she can find whether it’s music, film, fashion, painting, sculpture, glass, woodworking, or performance. Kelly’s travels across the globe are her inspiration for her photography and painting. Her abstract work comes from memory and her influential art comes from her passion for unity and inclusivity and reform in a world of vast cultural diversity. Her spiritual art comes from meditation and channeling the subconscious and source energy.
Some classes Kelly has taught include Drawing, Watercolor, Piano, Guitar, Clarinet, Critical Thinking, and other humanities and sciences. Her educational background consists of a BFA in Illustration from MCAD and a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans with studies in Ireland, Scotland, and Italy in Poetry, Creative Non-Fiction, Screenwriting, and Visual Art.
Some local clients for books, illustrations, and murals have included Minnesota’s Governor’s Residence Council, Minnesota Children’s Theater, and the Islamic Center of Minnesota. Some national clients for live performances, courtroom sketches, and 3D art have included the National Architecture Convention, Fox National News, Macy’s, and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Kelly’s work has appeared in film, TV, books, newspapers, magazines, on the radio, on walls, windows, pianos, mailboxes, and electrical boxes. During the year her work is displayed in solo and group gallery shows, and is for sale at local art festivals. She is currently finishing her screenplay and feature-length film. Www.kellyfrankenberg.com
Thomas Fulton I am a 75-year old who retired six years ago after 35 years working for a nonprofit that supported the preservation and development of affordable homes for lower income families, particularly the homeless. Over the later part of my career, I became more aware of art as a powerful force in addressing social problems and achieving social justice. I learned that the wisdom, creativity, insight, inspiration and soulfulness of art have been decisive forces for positive change throughout history, and are now critical in achieving the deeper awareness that the world so desperately needs. This includes art in all its manifestations – visual art, poetry, music, performance art and many other artistic vehicles as well.
Art to Change the World embodies this vision, not only in its support for artists and artistic work, but in the way ACW goes about its work – driven by artists themselves, and recognizing the value of working collectively, collaboratively. ACW reflects the importance of diversity both in myriad art forms, but also with an emphasis on racial equity and egalitarianism. In this way, ACW provides an opportunity to join a fellowship that passionately addresses a broad range of causes. I am very grateful for the privilege of membership, and the opportunity to acknowledge the great contributions of artists including those whose artistic activities are personal and private as well as public. I feel a sense of belonging. Supporter Minneapolis, MN
Leo Fortune (They/He)
Skills/Mediums: Drawing, Illustration-Graphic Design, Painting, Teacher, Writing
Leo Fortune (they/them), an emerging Minnesotan based artist and longtime public school educator, explores the power trees and spirals have to connect us to our authentic selves, to each other and to the world.
They began coloring outside of the lines at the age of three. Then, they spent most of their life disconnected from themself and consequently, their art. A year ago, at the age of 41, they came out as a neurodivergent queer trans human. Their art practice reignited and exploded.
They know first hand the power that comes from reconnecting to yourself. Leo harnesses their life story of being painfully disconnected to empower others to keep reconnecting and embracing their true self. They hold space in their art for others to be safely vulnerable. They deeply believe the more people are connected to their own love, the more the world will change for the better.
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Linda Fox was born on November 28, 1947 and grew up in Corpus Christi Texas. She graduated with honors from WB Ray high school and from the University of Texas at Austin. She then went to work for the Texas Department of welfare while going to graduate school but quit that and moved in 1971 to Mexico making Zihuatanejo, Mexico her more or less permanent home.
Twice she moved back to the United States because in 1980 her father offered to buy her a house anywhere in the continental United States so she took him up on that offer and bought a house in Florida. She began catering exclusively to large yachts and private jets. In 1985 she sold the house and moved back to Zihuatanejo.
Again in 1995 she moved back to Texas to qualify for Social Security and went to work for the university of Texas as a development officer for the college of communication. When she qualified for Social Security in 2000 she again moved back to Zihuatanejo.
In 2015 she decided to spend part of the year in the lovely high desert town of San Miguel de Allende and now divides her time almost equally with winter and spring in Zihuatanejo on the beach and late spring and summer in San Miguel. The best of both worlds.
She has written several books about her life in Zihuatanejo starting out with guidebooks about Zihuatanejo in 1989 until 2016. She then wrote a cookbook because she was doing cooking lessons and then wrote two short story books about living in Mexico.
She loves her life and her dog Chula and wouldn’t have done anything differently.
Bree Bridges writes with her best friend Donna under the shared penname Kit Rocha. In their eighteen years in publishing they’ve sold over one million books, won multiple awards, and enjoyed a front row seat to the digital revolution.
Bree & Donna are currently under contract with Amazon Montlake, have worked with publishers like Tor to publish critically acclaimed science fiction and fantasy books, have contracted with small indie publishers who were pioneers in the ebook market, and were early successes in self-publishing with their cult-favorite dystopian romances.
Before becoming a full time author, Bree worked as a database programmer and web developer. Her current passions include 3D printing, baking focaccia, freeze drying, video games, and of course reading.
Liisa Lê (she, her)
Skills/Mediums: Art Teacher, Drawing, Environmentalist, Grant Writer, Media and Marketing, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Scientist, Social Justice Themes, Woodworking, Writing
Liisa Lê is an artist whose paintings weave stories of nature, using the crane totems as a symbol to create a safe space for ease and peace. Through her art, Liisa seeks to bridge the gap between nature and humanity, celebrating the deep interconnection we all share and the need for harmony in our lives. With over 45 years of experience in art conservation and a lifelong commitment to nurturing creativity, Liisa’s work reflects her belief in the transformative power of art to bring peace, healing, and connection into the heart and home.
A strong influence on Liisa’s art comes from her Finnish heritage. As a second-generation Finnish-American, she draws inspiration from the traditions of her ancestors, particularly their craftsmanship in carving winged cranes on the prow of their ships. For them, the crane symbolizes protection, resilience, and security—values that she seek to emphasize in her work. This cultural legacy fuels her advocacy for wetlands, cranes, and humanity and she uses her art to honor these symbols as powerful representations of global strength and environmental stewardship.
Liisa’s diverse portfolio includes everything from intricate portraits, crane and wetlands, to abstract pieces, all created with a range of mediums, including graphite, oil, acrylic, watercolor paints and colored pencils. She is a painter, printmaker, photographer, and a writer. Through her work, she strives to evoke timeless emotions and foster deep connections. Her artistic journey is ever-evolving, with a passionate commitment to growth, exploration, and the ongoing celebration of both her heritage and the natural world.
Laura Burlis is a painter, mixed media and polymer clay artist who takes her subject matter from the natural world. She is an avid gardener and lover of nature. She loves plants and landscapes, and was Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park in 2017.
Much of her work mentions the relationship between the micro and macro. She has studied astrology and is very interested in nature cycles, which often leads to a mandala image.
She has a lot of Gemini in her own chart, which means she has tried almost every art medium there is.
One long lasting medium was making scarecrows, which she exhibited at the MN State Fair for 20 years.
She loves teaching both kids and adults. Laura has taught at the Textile Center of MN, Minneapolis Community Ed, Courageous heArts, Phipps Center for the Arts, and Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, and for Breanna’s Gift, a program that provides art experiences to kids in hospital.
Dr. Barbara Rogers Bridges has been an artist and a teacher/college professor for over 40 years. Her social practice sculptures have been exhibited in Maine, Miami, the Virgin Islands, Maryland, Chicago, Mexico, Spain, Canada, and throughout Minnesota. Bridges taught K-12 art in Minnesota, Maine and the Virgin Islands and trained teachers in higher education at the University of Minnesota and Bemidji State University.
Barbara creates social practice art from fabricated components in a variety of media and rescued “power objects.” She manipulates the objects to create meaning and provoke discussions and reflection on a wide variety of social topics.
She is an intervenor. Cambridge educated philosopher, Tim Ingold, holds a unique theory on art making. Dr. Ingold suggests that artists are simply interveners on any particular materials and/or objects the artist manipulates. Any object already has a story, the artist simply recombines these objects to create a new narrative.
Barbara received the Vision Award from the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District in 2023.
Barbara is founder and director of Art to Change the World. Read More Please contact Barbara if you would like to buy any of her art drb@bridgescreate.com
Holly Tappen is an oil painter of figurative and abstract art. She studied Art History at Emory University in Atlanta and Paris. Holly paints in her California Building studio every day. She has studied with David Feinberg, Alexandra Rosenmann, Greg Lipelt, and Suzann Beck. Every Monday night, you will find her researching Leonardo’s techniques at The Art Academy in Saint Paul, and on Sundays, she draws the models at Studio 103 Drawing Co-op.
Minneapolis/Saint Paul is her permanent home now, after living in Atlanta, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Paris, New York, and on the road with Renaissance Festivals.
Travel is important to her art; she has gone to such varied places as Chechnya, the Dominican Republic, Bosnia, Mexico, and most of Europe. These areas figure in her paintings and collages, often leading to interesting stories written behind the pictures.
In the arts, she has been an actor, playwright, set designer and painter, costume designer and builder, and fiction writer. She has focused in the last decade on producing high-quality paintings. She has had a number of solo and group shows in Minnesota, a permanent series at the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis Anthropology Department, and a piece on long-term loan displayed at the Hinckley Fire Museum.
Holly has seen four of her plays produced on stage in Atlanta. She has written keynote speeches for NOW, travelogues, and articles in “Connections to a New Age.” Holly published many short stories and illustrations in the anthology “American Writers Review” each year since 2017. Holly has written three science fiction books and hopes an agent reads one of them. –
Artist and Storyteller “Artist: Specializing in Post-Depressionism