Community artist, electronic musician, and arts researcher
Community art
Emphasizing wellbeing and all-abilities inclusion, my community art work fosters shared creativity as a method to build relationships and evoke collective dreams. In addition to the projects below, I am a teaching artist with Upstream Arts, whose mission is to use the creative arts to amplify the voice and choice of individuals with disabilities.
Recreation Arts
Recreation Arts is a participatory music group that recreates “aging” as an opportunity for connection and creative exploration. We often work in elder-centric settings, like customized living programs or memory care units. I started Recreation Arts after completing a master’s degree in community arts from the University of London.
To learn more, go to recreationarts.com.
Today’s Harlech
Today’s Harlech is a snapshot of Welshness in Minnesota through singing, writing, and storytelling. I facilitated the project with members of the St. David’s Society of Minnesota, a Welsh heritage group based in Minneapolis. Members offered their voices, stories, and writings as expressions of Minnesota Welshness.
To explore, go to todaysharlech.com.
Electronic music
I make meditative ambient music under the moniker Aros E-V. “Aros” is a Welsh word that means “stay.” It’s a shorthand artist statement – I want my music to stay with listeners, an accompaniment for life’s journeys. Here are two recent albums that highlight the place-based and community-oriented aspects of my music-making.
Extant Ranges
Extant Ranges is about landscapes and lifeways. A few years back, I visited the mountains of northern Wales. While there, I gathered field recordings from Yr Wyddfa, which peaks at 3,500 feet, and from Llechwedd Mine, which sits 500 feet underground. Inspired by these field recordings, Extant Ranges features two songs – Mountain and Mine. Together they tell a sonic tale of the Welsh mountainscape, from above and from below.
quiet citadel
quiet citadel is about how we care for each other. As part of an arts fellowship, I lived on the grounds of the historic Kirkbride Hospital in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. To create the album, I hosted music workshops, sampled secondhand cassettes, and collected field recordings from around the Kirkbride. Meant as a companion to the album, the zine offers a guided meditation that encourages listeners to reflect on the Kirkbride’s past and imagine its possible futures.
To hear more of my music, go to aros-ev.bandcamp.com.
Arts research
My research focuses on the social impact of arts and cultural participation, with special attention to equity, access, and power. I am a research scientist with Wilder Research, where I’ve conducted social research for more than a decade. I have a lot of experience using qualitative and participatory methods to dig into complex questions, and hold a master’s degree in applied anthropology from the University of London. Here are two recent examples of my research work.
Taut Threads, Spanning Ambivalences
My article Taut Threads, Spanning Ambivalences was published in FIELD: Journal of Socially Engaged Art Criticism. In it I theorize the social impact of two ensembles who practice at the intersection of disability and art: Interact Center for the Arts in Minnesota and Ambient Jam in London. Overall, I recommend that researchers get up close and personal with art projects to better document and demonstrate how the arts catalyze change in people’s lives.
To learn more about FIELD, go to field-journal.com.
Statewide survey about arts and creative experiences
I partnered with the Minnesota State Arts Board to conduct a representative statewide survey about arts and creative experiences in Minnesota. A first for our state, the survey offers insights about how Minnesotans engage with the arts in their everyday lives. The survey also shows that Minnesotans, especially those living with disabilities, face barriers to participating in the arts.
To read more, go to this blog post I wrote about the survey.