Our Mission
The Arts & Cultural Affairs Department exists to advance, support, stimulate, and promote a diverse and active arts and cultural environment that recognizes and draws on the full potential of Minneapolis’ artists and arts organizations, reflects, and responds to civic concerns and aspirations, and enriches the lives of all people who live in, work in and visit Minneapolis.
Our History
Previously, the Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy operated under the City’s Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) Department. Our newly formed Arts & Cultural Affairs Department builds upon and expands this foundation to ensure the achievement of the City's goals and the successful implementation of our 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
Photo: Corey Gaffer
Our work
ACA oversees and manages the city’s Public Art Program and Public Programs and Grants.
ACA and the City are committed to supporting a diverse, unique and inclusive arts community.
ACA highlights and nurtures local creative communities and ensures quality access to all of the arts.
ACA programs seek to achieve the City’s racial equity goals, the successful implementation of City’s and Mayor’s goals and priorities and the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
ACA champions Minneapolis’ image as a global hub of creativity and artistic excellence.
Our history
The City’s history of support for arts and culture dates to 1974 when the Minneapolis Arts Commission was chartered to advise the Mayor and City Council on arts-related matters. This ordinance, which is Chapter 36 of the Code of the Ordinances also defined “Arts.”
Over the years, multiple departments have housed and managed City arts programs.
In 1999 the City briefly formed an Office of Arts & Culture. The Office was disbanded in 2003 due to budget cuts.
Over the years, the City has also adopted arts and cultural plans, including “Culture Talks” (1993), “Arts Vision Statement and Policy” (2001), “Minneapolis Plan for the Arts and Culture”(2005) and the “Creative City Roadmap” (2016).
In more recent years, the arts functions of the City were in two departments. The Office of Arts, Culture & the Creative Economy, operated under the City Coordinator and Public Art and the Minneapolis Arts Commission operated under Community Planning and Economic Development.
The newly formed Arts & Cultural Affairs Department builds upon and expands this history to ensure a cohesive achievement of the City's goals and the successful implementation of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
Timeline:
November 2019
Minneapolis City Council directs staff to draft a plan and structure to grow the City’s current capacity to support public art and the creative economy.
Minneapolis City Council directs staff to draft an ordinance establishing a new department to serve as the centralized home for all City’s arts and culture work.
Public hearings are held regarding the draft ordinance.
This ordinance, which is now Chapter 43of the Code of Ordinances is officially adopted.
January 4, 2023
New department created, and arts staff transferred.
March 13, 2023
Ben Johnson is hired as the new Director of the Arts & Cultural Affairs.
November 13, 2023
Executive manager is hired.
May 2024
Department is fully staffed with two program managers.
Arts & Cultural Affairs, staff
As practicing artists and skilled administrators, our staff and team of consultants bring valuable field experience, local knowledge and relationships to their work at the City.
Benjamin (Ben) Johnson
Benjamin (Ben) Johnson comes to Minneapolis from Beverly Hills, California, where he served as arts and culture manager. Before that, he was the director of performing arts for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Johnson’s experience includes leadership roles in arts and culture at UCLA, the nonprofit foundation United States Artists Inc., University of Minnesota’s Northrop Concerts and Lectures, the University of Michigan’s University Musical Society, and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Johnson received a bachelor’s and master’s in arts administration from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona.
Benjamin (Ben) Johnson (He/him/his)
Director | Arts & Cultural Affairs
Addy Gonzalez
Addy Gonzalez comes to Minneapolis from Los Angeles, California, where she co-founded and co-directed 11:11 Projects, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to empowering communities through the arts. Addy has more than fifteen years experience working in the non-profit arts sector. She focuses on the intersection of cultural development, policy, and arts accessibility for communities. The Los Angeles City Council and the Public Works Department has awarded Addy with certificates of recognition as a Latina woman in the arts and was recognized as an Impact-Maker to Watch in 2020 by City Impact Labs.
Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Addy grew up in southeast LA and moved to the San Fernando Valley at age 18. In her early career, Addy worked as drafter and designer for T.W. Layman Associates, a commercial architectural firm before transitioning her career to the arts. She interned at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach and was a board member of Arts in Education Aid Council. Addy worked with the City of Los Angeles Council District 7 as its Cultural Development consultant where she created a comprehensive public art development plan specific to the Van Nuys corridor. She is an alumnus of the Arts for LA Activate Cultural Policy program, the inaugural fellow of the Arts for LA Laura Zucker Fellowship for Policy and Research and most recently, a fellow of the National Association of Latino Arts & Culture Leadership Institute.
Addy received her B.A. in Art History, Criticism and Conservation from UCLA and has an M.A. in Arts Administration from Drexel University. She’s dedicated her career to providing structure and support systems that ensure the transformational power of art is an integral part of healthy communities.
Addy Gonzalez (She/her/hers)
Executive Manager of Arts | Arts & Cultural Affairs
Mary Altman
Mary Altman has worked for decades years in the fields of public art, community art and art education as an administrator, organizer, instructor, volunteer and consultant. She has worked with arts groups across Minnesota and in several states on collaboration, cultural planning, artist training, rural arts development, budgeting, fundraising and evaluation. She is currently the Public Arts Supervisor for the City of Minneapolis. Her publications include A Handbook for Rural Arts Collaborations (COMPAS 1993).
Mary Altman (She/her/hers)
Supervisor, Public Art | Arts & Cultural Affairs
Talia Moorman
Talia Moorman was born and raised in Minneapolis, she has a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Geography and a Minor in Studio Arts. Talia has been working for the City of Minneapolis for seven years managing the public art collection and permits for art. In her role managing the collection she determines what maintenance is needed for each artwork annually, recommends which artworks should receive intensive treatments, and supervises two art conservation firms who provide expert treatments on the Collection. In her role managing permits for art, she reviews every application in detail to ensure projects can last in the Minnesota climate, are safe for the public and environment, have lasting impact on the community, and coordinates work with Public Works and other City staff to help applicants obtain the necessary approvals to turn their vision into reality.
Talia Moorman (She/her/hers)
Public Arts Coordinator | Arts & Cultural Affairs
Meena Mangalvedhekar
Meena Mangalvedhekar is first an immigrant woman, wife of a brave transwoman and then many other beings such as an artist, maker, educator, organizer and manager. Meena has experience working with national and local clientele as a project manager and public art manager. Her network based project ramp up and management process is designed to empower teams and creative minds to implement meaningful projects in the community. As a sought-after advisor in the Twin Cities arts community, Meena’s focus is on connecting community and place.
Meena received GD-Art from Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya and BFA from University of Minnesota, and has sustained multidisciplinary visual art practice through public art research, social intervention, participatory urban projection, and public installations.
Meena Mangalvedhekar (She/her/they)
Program Manager | Arts & Cultural Affairs
Cassie Garner
Cassie Garner is a project manager, curator and visual designer living and working in Minneapolis. She co-founded Gamut Gallery, a cultural hub in Minneapolis years promoting the arts in Minneapolis and beyond since 2012. Cass led operations and project management for exhibitions and events until she was the Director of February 2024. She has curated dozens of exhibits within Gamut’s walls. In 2018 Cass was the solo Juror of Artistry’s 42nd Annual Members’ Juried Art Exhibition. Her curatorial practice expanded in 2020 partnering with The Coven at their St. Paul location to curate a special nook of the Coven, and she partnered with HAUS Salon in 2021 to highlight local, innovative artists from the Twin Cities, producing 28 solo exhibits throughout the HAUS Salons across Minneapolis. Most recently, Cass was the Project Manager for the Holidays on Nicollet and a juror for Hennepin Theatre Trust It’s the People Project.
Cassie Garner (She/her/hers)
Program Manager | Arts & Cultural Affairs
George Edwards
George Edwards is an Administrative Analyst for the City of Minneapolis's Department of Arts and Cultural Affairs. He graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, with a Bachelor's in Sociology/Cultural Anthropology, and with an Master's degree in International Media Business from the University of Westminster in London, UK. Prior to this position, he worked as a private English instructor and localization expert in São Paulo, Brazil, as well as in arts and culture organizations in London and Minneapolis. When he's not working, he enjoys going to the cinema, visiting museums, and continuing his quest to become more fluent in Brazilian Portuguese
George Edwards (He/him/his)
Administrative Analyst | Arts & Cultural Affairs