NEW STAFF LEADERSHIP!
Syd, Erin and Pamela before installation, 2023. They’re our new trio of Co-Directors! Photo: ASP staff
A message from the board
Dear shantyfans,
Hello from the Board of Directors! We’re chiming in with an update in advance of shanty season. Did you know that board and staff members work YEAR ROUND to bring our annual program to the public? Well now you do, and this summer we reorganized our staffing structure from a duo of directors to a trio, and we’re excited to tell you about it!
Our auger-wielding Artistic Director (Erin Lavelle, in this role since 2019) will stay in her position, and we’ve done a little shanty shakeup of jobs to create NEW roles to suit the specific skills of two of our longtime producers (Syd Petersen and Pamela Vázquez Torres) and the needs of our organization. These three have all proven to be creative problem solvers, dedicated team members, smarty(snow)pants, as well as compassionate humans and lovely people. As a board we have already witnessed this team in action – sometimes under challenging scenarios – and are honored to work with them to make our annual program happen!
They started their new contracts in July and will work together as a team of co-directors: Artistic Director (Erin), Production Director (Syd). Administrative Director (Pamela).
You have likely seen Erin in the press and read her newsletters AND you have likely benefited from the often unseen work of Syd and Pamela. They have supported artists and found food vendors (no small feat in winter), secured permits, served back of house lunch and kept the hot coffee flowing (SWOON!), procured member event prizes, selected merchandise (sparkle pins anyone?), shoveled snow, measured ice, helped make hard decisions, and so so so many more things. Their behind-the-scenes work makes our program run seamlessly!
Much of the work of our staff – and all work in public art – is to nurture, cultivate and celebrate relationships, and this team has demonstrated the value of this over the last several years with artists, other staff, board members, food vendors, local merch makers, park permit personnel, medics, interpreters, volunteers, members and community partners. And of course also the 27,000+ members of the public who visit!
All three directors are charged with maintaining the integrity and heart of the organization’s mission, vision, guiding principles and values as it relates to all decisions – not just artistic ones – and ways of working together. We are pleased to have staff members return year after year to make this singular program happen. It lets us know, as a board, that we have invested, talented, passionate people keeping our mission active, our artists happy, and the public satisfied.
We trust these three individuals implicitly to lead with integrity and with JOY!
Meet them below! And make a point to say hi to them this winter.
With gratitude,
Art Shanty Projects Board of Directors
P.S. The trio reminded us to mention that we will also have four equally badass and fun seasonal production team members, who you will meet later : )
P.P.S. They also wanted you to know that the 2025 artists will be announced later this month!
P.P.P.S. Do you want dates? We have dates! Save them! Our Member Launch Party is set for Thursday, November 21 (Give to the Max Day) at Lake Monster’s patio (bonfires, beer, hot potato bar, trivia, live printing, prizes), and we’ll be returning to Bdé Umáŋ / Lake Harriet January 18 – February 9 for our month long program on the ice, climate willing. With a revised Plan Beach and a new Plan C* in the works just in case!
*C stands for climate chaos…
Syd Petersen (they/them) has been involved with Art Shanty Projects since 2020 as a volunteer, half of Lady Bear, and as part of the Free Store Shanty Crew. After the past 2 years as a producer, they are delighted to step up into the Production Director role alongside Pamela and Erin! When not on the ice, you can find Syd throwing pots, throwing down in the kitchen, or putzing through the woods.
As Production Director, Syd is responsible for managing infrastructure and logistics, fundraising, and providing artist support. This includes coordinating with Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, revising and implementing the accessibility plan, writing grants, maintaining and recruiting community partners, and working with shanty artists to help them realize their winter dream projects!
Pamela Vázquez Torres (she/her) has been involved with the shanties in different capacities since 2019. Juror, volunteer, producer and now stepping into a co-director role overseeing admin for the 2025 season! Pamela is an art historian, curator, and producer from Mexico. She has collaborated in the production of public art events and in curatorial projects shown locally and beyond. Pamela strives to learn about the land she now occupies and she has found some joyous ways to do so by delving into all things fungi and many winter firsts.
Pamela believes in art as an agent for social action. It is the means to explore her place in the world.
As Administrative Director, Pamela is responsible for overseeing Art Shanty Projects’ administrative and financial processes, operating functions and on-ice logistics. This includes preparing contracts, taxes, and insurance paperwork, doing our accounting and PAYING ARTISTS! (something we all can get behind). She also finds food vendors, secures amenities, and organizes and recruits volunteers, so you may be hearing from her about that!
Erin Lavelle (she/her) loves winter and talking to strangers. She’s a longtime shanty visitor, past shanty artist (Slumber Party Shanty), and has held her dream job as Artistic Director for the past five years. She’s thrilled her public art protagonist pals Syd & Pamela are leaping into Director roles this season! You may know Erin from her longtime role of producing the Northern Spark festival (RIP), but you may not know that she’s a post-folk artist who distributes zines about neighborhood foraging and makes woven artifacts out of her friends’ hair. She holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College (again, RIP, she hopes this bio isn’t starting some dystopian trend…) where she studied the integration of mindfulness practice and public art. She also throws down on the dance floor.
As Artistic Director, Erin is responsible for conceiving, developing, and implementing the artistic vision and mission of the organization, and communicating activities to the public. This includes leading the artist selection process, piloting new creative ideas, working with every shanty and performance group to help them realize their dream projects, and talking to everybody all the time through newsletters, social media, and press/publications.
