Arts Advocacy Day is March 3rd, 2026

It’s never too early to get ready for one of the most important days of the year. Arts Advocacy Day is Tuesday, March 3, 2026, and we need you there.

This session will shape the future of arts funding in Minnesota. Showing up together is how we make sure lawmakers see the full force, scale, and diversity of the arts community.

Your early registration = bigger crowds, stronger organizing, and a louder voice at the Capitol.

Join Us for Arts Advocacy Day!

Date: TUESDAY, MARCH 3rd, 2026
Rally in the Capitol Rotunda: 10 - 11 AM
Legislative Meetings: 11 AM - 3 PM

REGISTER FOR ARTS ADVOCACY DAY 2026

Block the date, sign up early, and stand with us.

Let’s make 2026 unforgettable for the arts!

Meet MCA’s New Board Members!

We’re thrilled to welcome six new board members and two alternates to the MCA team! These leaders bring fresh perspectives, deep community ties, and a shared passion for the arts.

From arts administrators to civic champions, their collective experience will help guide MCA’s mission and strengthen our advocacy across Minnesota. We can’t wait for you to meet them, and to see the impact they’ll make in the year ahead.

Get to know them below:

Sam Aros-Mitchell (Metro - At Large Member) is an Indigenous scholar-performer and arts producer enrolled with the Texas Band of Yaqui Indians. His work spans contemporary performance, festival curation, and community-engaged arts practices across the Twin Cities. Photo Credit: Canaan Mattson

Esther Berland Blevins (Metro - At Large Member) is the Associate Director of Minnesota Center for Book Arts, has nine years of non-profit fundraising experience, and has an M.A. in Arts Administration from the Savannah College of Art & Design.

Cathy Margaret Clune (Greater Minnesota - Region 7E Member)

Susanna Gaunt (Greater Minnesota - At Large Member) is a mixed-media installation artist and instructor living in Duluth. Inspired by historic European curiosity cabinets, natural history museums and personal specimen collections, she tangles human anatomy with animal taxonomy, creating artworks that encourage curiosity and reflection. She regularly exhibits her work throughout the Midwest.

Rocky Jones (he/him) (Metro - At Large Member) is a writer, producer, podcaster, musician, and video artist, who has spent his life and career committed to the idea that art and artmaking can serve as catalysts for a more inclusive, equitable and just world. A native of the Washington, DC area and an alum of Columbia University, he is also an innovative marketing and communications pro with nearly twenty years of experience in industries as varied as retail, design, and non-profit arts administration.

Sara A. Osman (Metro - At Large Member) is a legal advocate, documentary filmmaker, and cultural practitioner from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the director of The Qalanjo Project, a Somali cultural organization and creative arts studio in Minneapolis that promotes cultural production, community archival work, and grassroots social change through the arts. She develops programs that uplift artistry in community; the themes of home, belonging, and cultural preservation are central to her work. 

Anna Becker (Metro Alternate) is the Executive Director of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA), which she has led for seven years. She holds a BA from the University of Minnesota, with a double major in Studio Art (ceramics) and English, and a Mini MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Nonprofit Management. She is excited to join the MCA board as an Alternate to better understand the mechanics of arts advocacy and to use her skills straddling the worlds of art and business to advance the mission of the MCA. She enjoys rowing, crosswords & trivia, and working on various art projects.

Jaclyn June Johnson (Greater Minnesota Alternate) is an Arts Administrator, Actor, Director, and Consent Forward Theatre Artist certified by IDC. Before becoming the Managing Director of Rochester Civic Theatre she was the Director of Production at Commonweal Theatre. She holds acting and directing credits across the Midwest and is an accomplished improvisor and improv instructor. Jaclyn is committed to fostering connection, collaboration, and inclusion within the uniquely healing community of theatre. She is grateful to her home state of Minnesota for it's unparalleled support of the arts and proud to be standing with Citizen's for the Arts.