Megan Proft, Education & Volunteer Manager
Bridget Novak, Teaching Artist & Education Coord.
The public is invited to a “Meet and Greet” for Megan Proft and Bridget Novak on Wednesday, April 12 from 4:30-6:30 pm at the Northfield Arts Guild (304 Division St. S). Light refreshments will be served.
Megan Proft will take on the role of Education and Volunteer Manager. The Education and Volunteer Manager will oversee all education programs at the Arts Guild; coordinate volunteer efforts, including recruitment, training, and retention, across the Guild’s various programs; and spearhead social media engagement. Proft is “thrilled to join the staff” in this position as her passion is nonprofit arts work. An Owatonna native, Proft has a B.A. in Arts Management and B.A. in English from University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Prior to coming to the Arts Guild, Proft gained wide-ranging nonprofit experience as the Community Engagement Coordinator at Rice County Habitat for Humanity, Executive Director of the Owatonna Arts Center, and Enrichment Coordinator for the Northfield Public Schools Community Services Division. She has been involved as an artist with the Arts Guild, though, for almost 15 years, first getting involved through the 2002 production of Honk! and most recently made her directorial debut with the Arts Guild this past fall by co-directing The Rocky Horror Show. Outside her work, Proft is a worship leader at her church, and a local actress, singer, dancer and choreographer. Proft says, “I look forward to bringing my best to the Arts Guild and can’t wait to meet everyone involved in this great organization!”
Bridget Novak will take on the role of Resident Teaching Artist and Education Coordinator. The Resident Teaching Artist and Education Coordinator will lead classes and arts making experiences out in the community in various places, assist with administration for Arts Guild classes, work on strengthening our community partnerships and collaborations, and help coordinate social media engagement for the Arts Guild. Novak, an Iowa native, graduated from St. Olaf College with degrees in Studio Art and Sociology/Anthropology. During college she spent her summers leading art programming for families at a YMCA camp in northern Minnesota. As a Fifth Year Emerging Artist at St. Olaf, Novak explored community-based interactive art, including a roaming couch discussion series that took place around Northfield. Novak shares, “I love to create opportunities for people of all ages to find their inner artist, and I am excited to make art and connections with the Northfield community.”
These staff positions are generously funded through a three-year capacity building grant from the Ames Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation.
