In The Act

Ger Xiong/Ntxawg Xyooj was born in Thailand and immigrated to the US in 1993 as a Hmong refugee of the Vietnam War. He grew up in NE Wisconsin and currently resides in Saint Paul, MN. His work explores his cultural identity through his Hmong American experience utilizing metals and jewelry and textiles as a way to negotiate and navigate his identity. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Metals and Jewelry at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and his Master of Fine Arts at New Mexico State University. Website: gerxiong.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gerxiong55/

Margret Petrie is a podcast creator and host, authentic marketing coach, and artist. Her podcast, Authentic Obsessions, features creative conversations with artists about the joys and challenges that fuel their work.  As a coach, she helps creatives tell their story with confidence so they can reach sustainable growth.  On the web: Margret Petrie  Authentic Obsessions⁠  Instagram: Margret Petrie  Authentic Obsessions 

Lee Emma Running is an artist based in Omaha NE who creates monumental public installations and arresting sculptures with cast iron, enamel, glass, bone, and handmade paper. She uses this work to engage audiences in conversations about the impact of human-built systems on the natural world. https://www.leerunning.com/https://www.instagram.com/lee.running/?hl=enhttps://www.jmkac.org/artist/running-lee/

Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and known for large-scale installations and sculptures that manifest his interactions with American pop culture and the Latinx experience, Justin Favela has exhibited his work both internationally and across the United States. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/favyfav/?hl=en On the Web: https://fantasia.risoriso.me

Concerned with the alarming rise in diet-related health issues in Sheboygan County, Elaine Jumes, owner of Farsighted Foodie LLC, promotes healthy eating by offering nutrition education and cooking demonstrations to her community. Her Food for Life classes include practical cooking tips, delicious and healthy recipes that can easily be made at home, and specific information about how certain foods work to promote or discourage disease. Just as passionate about life as she is about her food, when she's not hiking the Wisconsin farmland with Greta Garbo, her dog, she enjoys yoga, cooking (of course), and reading John Sanford and Lee Child novels. Feel free to contact Ms. Jumes by visiting her website: www.FarsightedFoodie.com

Kayla Kiefer is a Queer tattooer of 13 years and business owner native to Sheboygan. Their primary focus outside of cultivating their art through tattooing is to help break down the toxic barriers that have existed in tattoo culture while maintaining the foundations that preserve the integrity of the art through well-aging tattoos. Outside of work, they've been enjoying time with their dog Honey, learning and leaning into home projects, and trying to create a habitat in their yard for the birds, bees, and whoever else stops by. 

Annalise Flynn is an independent curator and arts administrator working primarily in support of artist-created spaces. She manages SPACES Archives – the world's largest repository of archival documentation related to artist-built environments – and is always on the lookout for new (/new-to-her) creative sites. Find her on Facebook: • https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=2418160 or Instagram:  • https://www.instagram.com/annalisechristine/

Chase is the IT Specialist for the library. He spends a good amount of the week in his windowless office in the basement keeping everything running smoothly. Outside of work, he enjoy reading Fantasy, Hunting, Fishing, and Camping. Chase likes to disconnect in his off-time and spend time with his family.

Melissa Prentice has been the Public Services Manager at Mead Public Library in Sheboygan, WI since 2014. Her personal and professional passion is working to improve the quality of life for all by strengthening our public institutions and their role in contributing to vibrant, resilient, and welcoming communities.

David Bourgeois is a Musician, Composer, Actor, Landscaper, Runner, Bicyclist, Golfer and Retired Elementary Music Teacher who loves to travel. Definitely a people person. You can find him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/david.bourgeois920

Houa Yang is the Mental Health Project Coordinator for Sheboygan County with project Resiliency at WUCMAA. Her role is to implement mental health projects that make sense for the county and meet the needs of this community. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts with emphasis in graphic design and worked in the school district for 14 years as a bilingual specialist. Website: https://www.wucmaa.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WUCMAAInc/ Project Resiliency Facebook (our mental health initiative): https://www.facebook.com/wiprojectresiliency/

Whitney Morales is a local storytelling photographer. She specializes in documentary style photography that will authentically tell any story. Whether it is documenting the days of family life, or telling the story of a brand, Whitney creates emotive imagery that will bring you right into that moment. Website: Whitneymorales.com Socials: instagram.com/whitneymoralesphotography              facebook.com/whitneymoralesphotography

Nina Soul is an Indigenous Two spirit practitioner of Brujeria and a Medium. She has been a Spiritual Pastor since 2018. She is the owner of House of Spiritual Vibes LLC Botanica, a LBGTQ+, BIPOC, Witch owned business. https://house-of-spiritual-vibes-llc-botanica.business.site/ https://www.facebook.com/HouseOfSpiritualVibesBotanica

Erica grew up surrounded by the color and texture of nature, solitude, and curiosity. She advocates that all people belong to creativity, and that such belonging can help us find connection with one another. Erica has studied both painting and art therapy, and has an active, professional, intuitive studio practice as an artist based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. You can find her website at http://www.ericahuntzinger.com/ , her Instagram at (http://instagram.com/ericahuntzinger) , and her art at Honey and Ace, Whisk Bakery, and her studio. She is interviewed by Heather Hanlon who is always reading about art and museums, and is thankful for artists and community engagers like Erica. In Heather's work, studies, and writing, she is interested in art practice and material culture rooted in community, family, and healing.

Kathy is currently doing this, that & the other thing... which includes offering Therapeutic Massage and developing new grooves through teaching an eclectic style gentle yoga, Laughter Yoga & Ecstatic Dance at the new Uptown Social. She is also working a part-time job at Slo Food Market. For Kathy, bicycle riding is pure joy & gardening... ineffable bliss! The journey's always beginning & never ending - from Nothingness - to Somethingness - back to Nothingness - then to Everythingness!

Julie is the artist and owner of Jules + Leo. She handcrafts original glass beaded jewelry using a needle and thread. She enjoys the deliberate and detailed nature of this medium and continues to explore the endless combination of color and pattern. You can find her online at julesandleo.com and @julesandleo on Instagram.

Braden is a Sheboygan resident, local organizer and 'young professional' who is passionate about empowering people to create the community they want to live in. He has a professional background in marketing and product strategy, a deep love for nature, and a desire to combine his skills and passions to help make Sheboygan the best version of itself. Braden helped start Sheboygan Active Transportation, a local advocacy group focused on making it safer, easier and more delightful to get around using a variety of modes of transportation, and is involved in advocacy work focused on housing and small business vitality. Sheboygan Active Transportation's social media pages: https://www.facebook.com/sheboyganactivetransportation https://www.instagram.com/sheboygan_activetransportation

Heather is a certified planner through the American Institute of Certified Planners and holds a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and a master's degree in Urban Planning from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Heather has a vast array of experience in environmental consulting and nonprofit organizations. Additionally, Heather has traveled the world through her time in the U.S. Army and a tour in Iraq, and as a mentor of UW-Milwaukee Engineers Without Borders work in Guatemala and through her culinary training at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland. Heather is a compassionate listener and visionary that quickly sees processes and systems and finds inspiration and challenge from different viewpoints and experiences. www.greenbicycleco.com www.facebook.com/greenbicycleco www.instagram.com/greenbicycleco/

Charm Joy Der, MA Ed, is a wife, mother to two inquisitive and energetic young sons, an author, and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) strategist and educator. She is passionate about DE&I and belonging and wants to provide a space where all children see themselves within literature. Aiming to create a foundation of love, happiness, and self-esteem for children her debut book "My Happiness Counts" takes readers on an exciting counting journey to discover happiness. https://instagram.com/happinesscountsbook https://myhappinesscounts.com/ https://wonderatwork.com/

After over a decade in New York City working as an actor, technical director, and fight/stunt choreographer, Wyatt moved back home to Wisconsin to launch The Production Farm in Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties, which offers mental and behavioral health and wellness programs. Since moving back, the Sheboygan native has also worked as a carpenter, filmmaker and farmer, and still acts, makes music and creates art. He can be found online at https://theproductionfarm.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/productionfarm

Susan Barnett is an avocational cellist and photographer. She has served as curator for the Yellowstone and Erie Art Museums, and worked at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Cedarburg Cultural Center, and Milwaukee Art Museum. She has also served as an executive director, founded a gallery and framing business, and worked as an independent curator and nonprofit board consultant.

Dorothy McElroy is a certified grief support specialist, end of life doula and archery instructor who has spent the past five decades doing grief differently. Through her nonprofit Worldwide Dragon Shooting Day, she helps children and adults who have been affected by grief and trauma. Come spend some time with her and learn how you can slay dragons for yourself and help others slay theirs. Ted Talk: https://youtu.be/-kDTK23WulA https://www.worldwidedragonshootingday.com/ https://www.facebook.com/WWDSDInc-1527147604218527/ https://www.instagram.com/worldwidedragonshootingday/

Marilyn Montemayor started cooking to help a friend cater a party 45 years ago. Soon after, she began fielding requests from others to cook in their homes and was both surprised and pleased to realize she was good at it. She continued to cook in people's homes intensively until retiring at 65. Today, she teaches cooking classes as a volunteer for Uptown Social, Mead Public Library and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.

Mel Kolstad is an artist living in Fond du Lac who specializes in tiny and micro art created in large series. She is also an instructor who teaches others the joys of collage and printmaking. https://www.instagram.com/melkolstadart/ | https://www.facebook.com/melarthappenings | https://www.melkolstad.com | and you can subscribe to her newsletter One from You, One from Me here: https://mailchi.mp/183272a39507/onefromyouonefromme

Alexandra is a communication strategist who aspires to use communication as an instrument for positive social change by focusing on connecting people, organizations, and communities, and by building horizontal networks that base their interaction on respect for human dignity and love for the planet. A native of Bolivia, she is currently the lead strategist and a partner of the Sheboygan-based idea works, providing consulting services in organizational identity and brand development.

Andre Walton is a Milwaukee native who moved to Sheboygan and now sits on the Sheboygan Common Council, Mead Library Board of Trustees and is Executive Director of the nonprofit social justice organization Our Wisconsin Revolution. http://ourwisconsinrev.com/

Sarah Baughman is an artist, student and deeply curious person. Baughman, who grew up in Sheboygan, has spent the past decade working at Paradigm Coffee & Music and volunteering at Goodside Grocery. https://instagram.com/art.biscuits

Natasha L. Torry is a Wisconsin native who has been pursuing justice for the underrepresented in our community for over two decades. She is employed as a lawyer and municipal court judge, works hard as a mother of 5 children and plays at cooking, exploring nature and challenging herself with new adventures. Natasha believes that loving with an open heart is the only way to fully live this life. She can be found online at www.RootedLaw.com

Kathleen Quigley is a writer and massage therapist living in Wisconsin yet dreaming of Portugal. She has been published in Hypertext Review, Stoneboat Literary Journal, The Seventh Wave, HerStry.blg, among others, and is currently completing a memoir. After pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago, Kathleen took a hiatus to raise her son and run marathons. She loves all things purple and her crazy rescue dog. You can find her online at www.instagram.com/kathleen.quigley12 or on her blog at https://bonvoyageboob.wordpress.com/author/bonjourfalls/

Karen Robison is a botanist, teacher, artist and co-founder of Two Fish Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Elkhart Lake. She creates mixed-media and found-object works that bring disparate materials into a balanced form. She can be found online at www.twofishgallery.net and https://www.facebook.com/TwoFishElkhartLake

Angela Ramey is the Performing Arts Program Director at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. Originally from the Madison area, Angela holds her BA in Theatre from UW Madison and has been involved with performance and arts administration for the better part of her life. Angela has resided in Sheboygan with her co-hab for almost nine years and is a mother of two young daughters.

A clergyman in the United Church of Christ, he is among other things a husband, father, and friend. He is an author having written a novel, The Patch, a writer of stories and poems, was a professional singer, is an advocate of creative thought and expression, a promoter of fact-related experiences and of caring relationships with the world community of people and places.

Beth Lipman is a Sheboygan Falls-based artist whose sculptural practice generates from the Still Life genre, symbolically representing the splendor and excess of our current geological age and the stratigraphic layer humanity will leave on earth. Her works are a meditation on our relationship to Deep Time - a monumental time scale based on geologic events that minimizes human lives. Each installation is a reimagining of history, created by placing cycles often separated by millenia in proximity, from the ancient botanical to the cultural. The incorporation of prehistoric flora alludes to the impermanence of the present and the persistence of life. The ephemera of the modern age becomes a symbol of fragility as the human species is placed on a continuum where time eradicates hierarchy. She can be found online at http://www.bethlipman.com Photo credit: Rich Maciejewski (cropped for episode art)

Kay Jelinek is a mixed-media abstract artist based in Sheboygan who loves thinking and observing deeply and recombining everything into spontaneous art. She creates colorful artwork in the darkness of night, starting with a blank surface and no clear outcome in her mind. Jelinek's work responds to many deeply imbedded images from close observation of nature, fractals, a love of music, poetry & philosophy as well as the work of other artists who create surprising art reflecting their unique individuality. You can find her online at https://sheboyganvisualartists.org/member-artists/kay-jelinek/

Former Sheboygan Mayor Juan Perez is a self-taught artist who sets his own standards. Using light and shadow, he paints as his brush and paint direct him. Working from his Sheboygan studio, he is driven by the challenge of creating a three-dimensional painting using a blank canvas and several layers of paint. You can find him online at https://www.juanperezart.com/

Tom Rauwerdink is a graphic designer and artistic dabbler. He runs Eighty Art & Design which is a gallery and meeting space as well as an art and design studio. You can find him online at Eighty Art & Design's website.

Erika Block is a professional creative director, award-winning graphic designer, published author, and multi-media artist. She holds degrees in marketing communications, advertising, and digital media, with 20 years of experience in the art, music, print, television and film industries. Her work has been featured in the national media, including People Magazine, The View, Good Morning America, and The Today Show. She is represented by The Tracy Agency. You can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/elblockauthor and https://www.instagram.com/elblockauthor

Kim is a colorful mixed media artist with a passion for community and creativity. In 2020 she founded Hello Happiness Creativity Center, a nonprofit dedicated to providing creative supplies and experiences for everyone. You can find her on Facebook and on Instagram.

Kaitlynn Kiela recently co-founded the county's first yoga co-op, Sheboygan County Yoga Co-op. She has spent the last ten years learning about yoga and mindfulness in our community. She can be found online at https://www.sheboygancountyyogacoop.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ShebCoYoCo/, and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sheboygancountyyogaco.op/

Molly King received her BA in dance as well as her teaching certification at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. King is a registered yoga teacher [RYT 200] with Yoga Alliance. She received her MA in special education at Cardinal Stritch University. King has been teaching for the Étude Group schools for sixteen years. She is also the Senior Advisor for the Youth Dance program at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center and has led multiple Connecting Communities projects with various dance companies. Outside of teaching and collaborating, King is an active performer for a German folk dance group in Milwaukee, Pommersche Tanzdeel Freistadt. However, King's most important role and passion in life is being a mom to her two daughters Nora and Rosalie. She hopes her love of dance will continue on with them. She can be found online at: http://www.etudegroup.org/ https://www.jmkac.org/ http://www.ptfusa.org/

Jill is a creative person living a creative life. You can find her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jillbrotz/.

Santino Laster is a public servant by trade. He's the Public Safety Specialist for the Mead Library, and works diligently with the community— providing resources. He also is a board member for the Sheboygan Area School District.

Dan Weiss is a curious explorer of sound, nature, and the rhythms of life. Native to Sheboygan, bisqued in Chicago, and strewn about the mountains of Missoula, Montana, Dan prefers the uncomfortable approach to finding something great and unexpected, and eventually comforting—some documentation of which can be found at the following links: soundcloud.com/a-dan-weiss soundcloud.com/hot-the-cat-the-kitchen mendelssohnmusic.bandcamp.com/ instagram.com/wan_deiss

Anneliese Finke is a poet on the staff at Mead Public Library. Her work has appeared in a few literary journals, but you can also check it out on her website, https://anneliesefinkepoetry.com/. Her fingers are permanently crossed for a book someday.

Kate Krause is a spacemaker and community connector. She tries to remedy things she's cranky about... ope, passionate about. You can find her online at http://www.paradigmvenue.com/ as well as on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/paradigmcoffeeandmusic/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/paradigm.coffeeandmusic/ and the FB group for Queer Potluck Sheboygan, which you can join at https://www.facebook.com/groups/300840940256347/

Frank Juárez brings two decades of art education and arts management experience organizing local and regional art exhibitions, community art events, facilitating presentations, supporting artists through grant programs, and offering professional development workshops. Frank is in the forefront of promoting Wisconsin artists, as well as attracting regional, national, and international artists to collaborate and exhibit in Wisconsin. You can find him online on the Instagram for Artdose Magazine as well as his own Instagram; the Artdose Magazine website; and his own website.

Charlie O'Connell is a musician and multi-media artist. He holds a degree for Interdisciplinary Arts & Technology from the Peck School of Arts. Charlie and partner Jordan Gottsacker own and operate a lifestyle shop called Honey and Ace. Future Fern originated in 2015 as a space to house the growing collection of multimedia endeavors.

Jordan Gottsacker has been doing awkward robot dance moves through the interior design field since 2011. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Interior Design and has been growing her own interior design practice and skill set with the partnership and guidance of other small businesses design firms, architects and contractors over the past decade. You can find her online at http://www.honeyandace.com/ as well as on Instagram (http://instagram.com/honeyandacedesign).

Toril Fisher studied painting and metals at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and completed her BFA at Pacific Lutheran University in Washington State. After a 28 year “delay” - 2019 marks the first year she has gone “all in” to pursue a full time career in art. You can find her website at http://torilart.com/.

Michael Albert has been creating ART since his college days at New York University, where he studied business (BPA, 1984-1988). He is also the founder/owner of Sir Real, a brand of fruit juice & natural foods. He has a website at http://michaelalbert.com/ and can also be found on Facebook (http://facebook.com/michael.albert.5815) and Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/sirrealjuice/).

Christina Wilke-Burbach PhD, RMT, CA is a scholar, teacher, consultant, spiritual counselor, and holistic healing facilitator. She has a website at http://mindsoulandself.com/ and can also be found on Instagram (http://instagram.com/x_tina_mindsoulself).