Minnesota Portraits

Stephen McClellan – Mentor, music business guru, and notorious grouch. Interviewed while he was still a general manager at First Avenue nightclub, at a time when the music industry was thriving, and records and live music were abundant. Stephen shares his approach to nightclub management, his alternative job options, and his major disdain for the band Technotronic.

Mark Dayton - Teacher, street counselor and future governor of Minnesota. Interviewed when he was still the state auditor, the discussion includes growing up wealthy and his feelings of privilege, his consciousness being raised in the 1960s, as well as recovery from addiction.     This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Horst – Salon worker, environmentalist, entrepreneur, and most notable proponent of aromatherapy through his company Aveda. The discussion includes his mother’s use of plants and herbs, the reasons he chose Minneapolis for his home, and the growth of his school training future salon workers.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Miles Lord – Prosecutor turned federal judge, Miles Lord was called an activist judge by his critics. The discussion includes growing up poor with an innate sense of justice, the dangers of Republicans on the Supreme Court, and the important cases in his career and the impact they made; including the Dalkon shield case against the  A. H. Robins Company, and the environmental case against Reserve Mining Company, where Lord forced Reserve to stop dumping pollutants into Lake Superior.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Ricardo Levins Moarles – Artist, community organizer, and co-founder of the Northland Poster Collective: (For thirty years, Northland Poster Collective was an activist arts organization and business devoted to using art in support of organizing, education and movement building). Discussion includes growing up in Puerto Rico, radical politics, and the importance of the arts and the artist in modern society.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Leeann Chin – Chef, teacher, and entrepreneur. Leeann talks about her early years living in China, the struggles to open her first restaurant, and the traditional role in Asian culture and her marriage that she as a woman was expected to follow.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Dominique Serrand – Artist, performer, director. This discussion includes the origins and humble beginnings of the renowned company Serrand helped to start, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, the legalities of living and working in his adopted homeland of the Twin Cities, and the frustration and financial hardship of the artist.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Craig Rice – Director, producer, musician and teacher; Craig Rice has been a staple of the Minnesota film production scene since the 1980s. Discussion includes growing up black in Minnesota, always knowing he wanted to direct movies, being a black man in the world of film, and what he has learned from his professional and personal relationship with Prince.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Ann Bancroft – Author, teacher, adventurer, and public speaker. Interviewed shortly before Bancroft led a four-woman expedition to the South Pole on skis. This personal conversation explores Ann’s ambitions, fears and her need to push herself.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Paul Wellstone – Professor, community organizer, and US senator, Wellstone was a leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic party. Discussion includes grassroots politics, the frustration with the mainstream media to take progressives seriously, finance campaign reform, and the viciousness of the American political campaign. (The Boschwitz letter is discussed, accusing Wellstone of being a "bad Jew" for marrying a Gentile and not raising his children in the Jewish faith).   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Clyde Bellecourt – Civil right organizer, and one of the founding members of the American Indian Movement. Discussion includes growing up on the White Earth reservation, being sent at the age of 12 to Red Wing State Training School, and fighting one of the longest wars ever: the one waged against the American Indian people.   This story is made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.