Ash Hanson

Background

About Ash Hanson

Ash Hanson (she/her) has 20 years of experience working with rural communities to activate stories, connect neighbors, and exercise collective imagination. She is the Founder and Creative Executive Officer (CEO) of Department of Public Transformation, an arts-led nonprofit working at the intersection of creativity and civic life in and with rural communities across the country. In addition to her work with DoPT, she is the Founder/Director of PlaceBase Productions, a theater company that creates original, site-specific musicals celebrating small-town life. In 2018, she was named one of the inaugural Obama Foundation Fellows; and, in 2019, she was awarded a prestigious Bush Foundation Fellowship for her creative/civic leadership work with rural communities. Ash identifies as a rural cultural worker, social practice theater artist, community facilitator, immersive experience producer, enthusiastic arts administrator, and fierce advocate for rural people and places. She is a member of the Center for Performance and Civic Practice Leadership Circle and she was an Artist-in-Residence in both the Planning Department at the City of Minneapolis (Creative CityMaking) and with the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership (ArtPlace America), where she employed creative community engagement strategies for equitable participation in urban and rural planning processes. In her role as a rural arts advocate, she has presented on numerous stages (Obama Summit, Rural Assembly, League of Minnesota Cities, Rural Arts & Culture Summit), had interviews with a number of media outlets (Reframing Rural, Filling the Well, Postcards, View From Here: Pioneer PBS, MPR News), and articles/features in multiple regional & national publications (Washington Post, CNN, MinnPost, Minnesota Alumni, Creative Exchange, Star Tribune, Minnesota Women’s Press, ArtPlace America, The Daily Yonder). Previously, she was the Program Director for the Minnesota Theater Alliance—where she managed statewide regional networks—and the Program Director for Public Art Saint Paul—where she produced large-scale, participatory public art events. She holds an MA in Applied Theater with a focus on Rural Community Development (University of Manchester, UK), and a BA in Performance and Social Change (University of MN). She is a Leo and an outdoor adventure enthusiast; she believes deeply in the power of sharing stories on front porches, karaoke as an organizing strategy, engaging in radical acts of play, bonfire singalongs, and the overuse of exclamation points!