Maeve Aickin, Creative Writing Teacher

Maeve Aickin is a writer and proofreader based in Minneapolis. Her work has been published in Lux and Dissent, and her clients have included nominees for the National Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the Kirkus Prize for Fiction. She holds a B.A. in Literature from Sarah Lawrence College.

Kenzi Allen, Theatre & Musical Theatre Teacher

Kenzi Allen is a local theatre artist and teacher specializing in physical theatre, devising, movement, experimental performance, mask, and clown. Twin Cities performance credits include The Moving Company, Nervous Theatre, The Guthrie Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company, Four Humors, Red Bird Theatre, Walking Shadow, and devised work directed by Jon Ferguson. She is a founding company member for The Missing Theatre, UK. Kenzi trained with École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in France, Flöz Akademie with Familie Flöz in Italy, Burlesk Center with Pierre Byland and Mareike Schnitker in Switzerland, Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in California, University of Minnesota, and is an alum of SPCPA.

Brandon Chambers, Visual Art Teacher

Brandon Chambers is a visual artist committed to a multidisciplinary practice. He uses art as a vessel to document and preserve his grappling with the human condition and its effects on lived experience. He does this abstractly by engaging in the creative act in varying contexts and observing himself, the process and results to draw conclusions and insights about existing. Brandon’s most recent interest is in the idea of virtual reality, not just as an emerging technology, but as a philosophical concept tracing back to Plato’s Cave and the question of how information and our perceptions shape our reality and how we live with uncertainty about the nature of reality. Brandon received his BA in Studio Art from the University of Maryland and an MFA from the University of Minnesota.

Zamara M. Cuyún Grimm, Visual Art Teacher

Zamara Cuyún is a self-taught “Gringindia” artist and educator of de-Indigenized Guatemalan Highland Maya ancestry based in Minneapolis. She works primarily in acrylics, incorporating elements of Maya history, iconography, and worldview. Themes inspiring her work include histories of colonization and resistance, cultural resilience, social justice and the central role of women in these processes.

An active member of the Twin Cities’ Latinx art community, Cuyún has participated in public art projects, served on the Serpentina Arts leadership committee and co-curated the 2024 exhibition Latina and Latinx MN: Re/claiming Space in Times of Change at The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at St. Catherine University. She has taught at SPCPA since 2023.

Rachel Doran, Dance Teacher

Rachel Doran is an eclectic dance educator, serving the next generation of dance artists with the philosophy that, with opportunity and intention, anyone can dance about anything. After a decade’s worth of nation-spanning freelance choreography and instruction, she now focuses her creative efforts in in the Twin Cities. Rachel is cofounder and codirector of Hothouse, a dance space for adults and teens in Northeast Minneapolis; managing director of Crash Dance Productions, a contemporary dance company; and is assistance coach of the Totino-Grace E’gals dance teams.

Isabella Dunsieth, Theatre Teacher

Isabella Dunsieth is a writer, improviser, and actor in the Twin Cities. She has a BFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Actor Training Program. Since graduating, she has been a founding member of the improv groups Latins on Ice and Opera Punks. She is currently a core cast member at the Brave New Workshop, the oldest running comedy theater in the country. Isabella is also an associate artist with the Birth Play Project, a company devoted to placing reproductive stories in the public memory. Her teaching experience includes the Dr. Phillips Center, Park Square Theatre, and The Guthrie.

Kay Heino, Visual Art Teacher

Kay Heino is an activist, researched-based artist. He creates works using a vast array of methods from digital design, photography, book making, painting, performance, and installation. His work is centered around issues of pollution, justice system reform, and human rights.

Through the idea of free for the public, Kay makes things that are meant to be seen by everyone no matter where you live, where you work, what race you are, what gender you are, what religion you are, or even how much money you have.  He doesn’t want people to feel excluded in learning the lessons he’s trying to teach and from the information he is trying to provide. His work draws from collected data, history, and community insight which he presents in a way people cannot ignore, through methods that are easily accessible and conducive to easy distribution.

Murah Hsiung, Instrumental Music Teacher

Murah Hsiung is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities with a Bachelor of Music degree in Viola Performance. She is currently the associate principal violist of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra and plays with several orchestras including the Quad City Symphony and Mississippi Valley Orchestra. Murah is the current Head Music Librarian at Minnesota Youth Symphonies where she enjoys music preparation, coaching sectionals and interacting with students. She has a passion for cooking and enjoys traveling.

Hassan Ingraham, Dance Teacher

Hassan Ingraham, born and raised in Miami, FL, started his formal dance training at New World School of the Arts and later received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Julliard School in New York City. Hassan joined TU Dance in 2011, and danced with the company for five years. He also has been a guest artist with Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance, Peter London Global Dance Company, The Penumbra Theater, and most recently StrongMovement.

In 2021, Hassan was honored as a recipient of the McKnight Fellowship Award, recognizing him as one of the Twin Cities “Artists to Watch”. In addition to his performing career, he is a dedicated dance educator, serving on the faculty at the University of Minnesota’s dance program as a modern dance professor. He also teaches ballet and modern at The School at TU Dance and is currently on faculty at Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists.

Drawing on his extensive performance background and education, Hassan brings a fresh, contemporary perspective to both his pedagogy and choreography. His approach encourages dancers to explore new possibilities, push beyond perceived limitations, and cultivate a deeper sense of artistic experession.

Alice Paige, Creative Writing Teacher

Alice Paige is an author, teaching artist and performer from Chicago. She received her B.Sci in Biology from Iowa State University and her MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University. She is a Loft Mentor series Fellow and a Digital Pedigogical Lab Fellow. Her work can be found in American Precariat, Freezeray Poetry, Coffin Bell and other strange journals.

Aaron Preusse, Theatre Teacher

Aaron Preusse is the Founder of the Fake Fighting Company, a stunt and stage combat company based in Minnesota. He is a Certified Teacher and Fight Director with the Society of American Fight Directors. In addition, Aaron received honors of Advanced Gold with Recommendation from the British Academy of Dramatic Combat. He has served as Fight Director for over 25 productions at the Guthrie Theater.  He has been the Fight Director for Children’s Theatre Company and their Theatre Arts Training Senior and Junior Intensives, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Minnesota Opera, Commonweal Theatre Company, Park Square Theatre , as well as many other theatres, universities and film projects in the region. Aaron has taught for the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, the University of Minnesota, Concordia University of St. Paul, the Minnesota Thespian Festival, along with many other institutions. Aaron is a graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.  More info can be found at www.fakefighting.com.

Darrius Strong, Dance Teacher

Darrius Strong is a choreographer, educator, and arts leader based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Founder and Executive & Artistic Director of STRONGmovement. With over a decade of experience in the field, his work centers on creating meaningful performance experiences, developing emerging artists, and building community through dance.

Through STRONGmovement, Darrius has produced original productions and interdisciplinary collaborations with organizations including the Walker Art Center, Schubert Club, Crescendo Community Chorus, and Children’s Theatre Company.  His choreography has been presented at the American College of Dance Festival and the Hennepin College Arts Festival, and he was selected as a guest curator for Choreographers’ Evening at the Walker Art Center in 2023.

Darrius is the recipient of the Jerome Fellowship and the McKnight Choreographyic fellowship. His work has been recognized for its physicality, depth, and storytelling, earning praise from regional press and arts organizations.

In addition to his creative work, Darris is deeply committed to arts education and mentorship. He serves as Hip-Hop Director at Eleve Performing Arts Center, where he has trained and mentored dancers for over a decade, and is the founder of STRONGintensive, a pre-professional training program designed to support the next generation of artists. He has also served as a panilist for the McKnight Foundation Choreographic Fellowship and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, and has worked as an adjudicator for Innovate Dance Competition for eight years.

Darrius’ work is rooted in collaboration, community engagement, and continued evolution of dance as both an art form and a cultural connector.

Matthew Vinge, Instrumental Music Teacher

Matthew Vinge is a classical/fingerstyle guitarist and music educator based in downtown St. Paul and the southwest metro. He studied music communications at Normandale Community College and attended the University of Minnesota after receiving the John Chatterton Guitar Schoolarship to study music and classical guitar performance. He has been awarded participation in master classes with some of the world’s top classical guitar performances such as Scott Tennant, Xuefei Yang, Marco Tamayo and Odair Assad. On the weekend, you will find him performing in local cafes around downtown St. Paul or the southwest suburbs of the Twin Cities. When he is not teaching or performing, he is out in nature with his ukulele, chasing and potographing the aurora borealis in the Minnesota northwoods. P