Staff

OUR STAFF

Mark Ruark (Technical Director) is a theatre artist who learned his craft at the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Since 2001, he has worked professionally in many capacities, including: stage, costume, lighting, and sound design; stage management; technician; musician, singer, dancer, and actor with such groups as Kaleena Miller Dance, Twin Cities Tap Festival, Rhythmic Circus, Picasso Projects, Deborah Jinza Thayer's Movement Architecture, Live Action Set, Xelias Aerial Arts, and many others. When he is not out on tour, you can find him creating sound and music at home in Minneapolis. You can find some of his work online at www.liarsconspiracy.com.
(Pronouns: he/his)

Jo Kellen (Program Director) is a musician, writer, and performer based in the Twin Cities. Since they moved to Minneapolis in 2012, they've produced theater, concerts, and multimedia performances in the city and throughout the United States. Maybe you've seen them playing guitar at First Avenue with their band Products or pushing their physical limits onstage at Red Eye Theater -- or maybe you've walked by as they've dutifully sent e-mails in a number of local coffee shops. Their life is driven by the pursuit of art: whether that means coordinating resources to make it happen, creating it, or doing a mix of the two, Jo is always on the move.

(Pronouns: they/them)

Rebekah Cook (Interim Executive Director) is a multi-hyphenated creative entreprenuer (Producer-Realtor®-Designer-Project Manager) with a passion of creating order out of chaos, taking her champagne taste and making it work on beer budgets and exploring new ways to make the world a better place. Rebekah runs a small but high volume real estate brokerage, Anderson Realty. She is also the owner of Forage Modern Workshop and a part of the teams behind Hi-Lo Diner, Ephemera Records and more. Rebekah lives in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul with her husband, daughter, and sweetest-dog-ever, Fred.
(Pronouns: she/her)