Studio Stories: Reminiscing Twin Cities Dance History with Sandy Agustin - Season 7, Episode 95

Sandra Agustin; she/her/tita
Cre8tive Navigator Facilitator/Artist
Sandy has an extensive history of arts, social and racial justice
and leadership. She is a native
Minnesotan, the youngest child of a Filipino immigrant and 5th
generation Euro-Minnesotan.
Since the age of 9, she has professionally performed and taught
dance, later moving into arts
administration as executive and artistic director at Intermedia
Arts where she curated,
fundraised, managed, consulted artists and built relationships.
She is a former co-artistic core
member of Mu Performing Arts where she acted, directed,
choreographed over 20 shows and
was an early member of the Asian American Renaissance. Since its
inception in 2002, Sandy
has frequently co-facilitated cohorts of arts and community
development leaders in the Creative Community Leadership
Initiative alongside Bill Cleveland of the Center for the Study
of Art and Community. She has served on non-profit boards
including the Minnesota Dance Alliance, Minnesota Citizens for
the Arts/MCA, and currently serves on the boards of Maji ya chai
Land Sanctuary, Speaking Out Collective and the Tango Society of
Mn. As a resident teaching artist through the Children’s Theatre
Company's Neighborhood Bridges program Sandy led an in-school
critical literacy and theatre program engaging young people to
question power, write their own stories and develop community .
She recently co-founded Theatre 55 providing performance
opportunities for folks over 55 years of age, where she also
occasionally performs and choreographs. Sandy is a part of the
Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership's artist roster, working
in St. Peter, MN. She is a performer and choreographer and
contributor with Pangea World Theatre's latest production called
Life Born of Fire, an ensemble based public performance ritual,
created in a post-uprising Minneapolis environment.

Sandy's recent facilitations have included ArtPlace America and
the Local Control Local Fields program, Southwest Initiative
Foundation, a rural community development organization;
Leadership on the Way a two-year leadership mentoring program for
associate Lutheran pastors across the US; Longfellow Rising a
newly formed organization committed to an equitable rebuild in
the wake of George Floyd's murder and the uprisings that took
place in South Minneapolis. She considers herself a cre8tive
navigator, helping individuals and organizations to find their
creative "north". She sees her calling and role in shifting
energy, holding tender and playful space and validating all
perspectives. She brings creative/arts based engagement tools and
deep listening practices as mentor-learner into every and all
settings. She is currently the Director of Creative Engagement
for Inspire to Change, LLC., whose mission is to support purpose
driven change and change makers around the globe.

Aside from the arts, she is an advocate-lover for all animal
species, the environment and HIV/
AIDS causes.