Women Behind the Scenes

Nov. 1, 2014

There’s certainly no shortage of the arts in northern Michigan. And behind the artists themselves, a host of teachers, administrators, curators, choreographers and others work to make it all happen, often out of sight of the audience. Here we profile five women who stand just outside the spotlight, helping the region’s arts scene thrive.

Ann Bloomquist

Vocal Coach, Mill Street Singers; Founder, Northport Village Voices; Organizer, Booster, Northport Community Art Center

Ann Blooquist says her interest in the arts goes back to when she was a youngster.

"I’ve always been in the arts, since I was six," she says, when she began piano and dance lessons. "I’ve been making, appreciating and loving music (since then). It gets into your blood."

Bloomquist graduated from the University of Illinois as a voice and music education major. She taught choir, band and orchestra, mostly at East Lansing High School. She also conducted the Opera Company Chorus of Mid-Michigan for seven years, conducted church choirs for 60 years, and acted in community theater in Lansing.

She and her husband, former Michigan State Director of Bands and Music Department Chair Ken Bloomquist, have called Northport home going on 20 years. "We bought property here in 1976 and came up on weekends," she says. "We moved here full time in 1994."

Once they were permanently in the community, they naturally became involved in the village’s arts and culture.

"People asked me to start a choir," she says.

Bloomquist happily obliged and founded and conducted the Village Voices for 12 years, overseeing its growth from 12 to 60 people.

She also became involved in community theatre, but, to her chagrin, found there was not a suitable local performance facility. However, that was about to change.

In 1998, the school was discussing expansion. The idea of including a performance auditorium got the local arts community involved, including the Bloomquists.

The community’s passion for the arts paid off on Oct. 1, 2001 when the Northport Community Arts Center held its official grand opening. The Northport Village Voices and the Northport Community Band, conducted by Ann and Ken Bloomquist, respectively, provided music. Ann once again delved into community theatre, serving as producer, director, music director of chorus director for many theatre productions.

After a dozen years at the helm of their respective musical organizations, the Bloomquists both gave up their batons so they could spend more time together. But it hasn’t worked out quite the way they thought.

While Ken stopped conducting the band, he joined its trumpet section. That gave Ann the impetus to try something new.

"If he’s going to play trumpet in the band, I’m not going to stay home," she says.

So now, she’s the timpanist with the band. She’s also coaching the vocal group The Mill Street Singers.

"I failed retirement," she says.

Peg McCarty

Director, Glen Arbor Art Association

The Glen Arbor Art Association hosts numerous events throughout the year: art classes and shows, live performances, readers’ theaters, and concerts.

Overseeing it all is Peg McCarty, the director of the GAAA. While she isn’t an artist herself, she is adamant about the ways the arts enrich people’s lives. "I try to bring the arts to people of all ages and backgrounds," she says.

McCarty graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in horticulture, and then later earned a degree in education. She’s worked in a variety of positions that engendered skills in programming, public relations and marketing.

That includes a stint in Fish Creek, Wisconsin, where she coordinated a collaboration between the local school district and a community arts group to improve and enhance the district’s arts offerings. It involved an artist-in-residence program with artists from across the state, as well as writing grants, communicating through newsletters and promoting the arts throughout the district.

"I worked with the board of education, teachers and administration to plan (programs) for students," she says.

She brought those skills and experience with her to her current job, which she took on in 2004.

In summer, the GAAA hosts a full schedule of classes for both adults and children. "It gets very busy here with kids and their parents," she says.

Summer is also when the association hosts the Manitou Music Festival, a series of folk, world, jazz and classical music concerts. Their annual Dune Climb concert draws a crowd in excess of 2,500.

In the off-season, she’s busy planning for the coming summer, as well as continuing the Association’s schedule, albeit on a smaller scale: shows, classes, open studio time, etc. "It keeps growing. It’s becoming more year-round," she says.

McCarty keeps in contact with artists, students and audiences with online postings and email blasts. "We try to get the word out. There’s a lot of marketing," she says.

Among her favorite events is the Plein Air Paint Out Weekend. This past year’s event featured roughly 50 artists who painted Friday and/or Saturday. Completed works were shown and sold and 90 paintings were entered in the juried competition for over $500 in cash prizes.

"I love my work here," she says.

Mindy Rohn

Instructor of Musical Theatre, Interlochen Arts Academy

Playing or teaching? Mindy Rohn proves you don’t have to choose. As instructor of musical theatre at Interlochen, she instructs students, accompanies them on piano, and readies them for their own musical or theatrical future.

"This is my 14th year at Interlochen," she says.

While she’s now comfortable teaching musical theatre and working with the school’s musical theatre productions, she admits that wasn’t necessarily the case when she first began.

"I’ve gotten my own education in theatre from my colleagues," she says.

Rohn was a music major at the University of Michigan and was introduced to Traverse City as a singer and keyboardist with the Golden Garter Revue, the troupe of college student musicians who performed at Dill’s Olde Towne Saloon. She eventually became musical director of the revue and remained in the area even after Dill’s was sold and became the Blue Tractor.

Rohn says her job gives her the opportunity to help young people as she was helped.

"I’m fortunate to work with some highly talented students. This may be their vocation or a stepping stone to another direction," she says.

She’s responsible for teaching vocal parts and serves as daily rehearsal accompanist. Her day includes giving private lessons, and in the afternoon, overseeing rehearsal for the semester’s musical. She also serves as accompanist for other performances involving Interlochen students.

In addition to her work at Interlochen, she plays keyboard and sings with Swing Shift and serves as the group’s music director. Led by vocalist Judy Harrison, the variety band performs at the SwingShift and the Stars Dance-Off For Charity.

"I still play in small amounts; I don’t want to be playing every weekend in a bar," she says.

Heather Raue

Director, Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet

Timing is everything. Heather Raue arrived in Petoskey just after the renovation of the Crooked Tree Arts Center and before they hired a dance instructor.

"They had dance students and there was no dance program. I submitted my résumé," she says.

That was 11 years ago. Raue has been the director of the school of ballet since.

"I teach six days a week, four levels," she says. Those levels range from as young as four to high school."

Raue hails from Dallas, where she was infected with the dancing bug when she was only three years old. She was watching Sesame Street and immediately following the show was a ballet program. Raue says it was love at first sight.

After graduating from Texas Christian University, she became part of the Dallas Metro Ballet and then the Houston Ballet, before working as a freelance dancer.

These days, her work day begins after school when the dance students arrive. She also works weekends, arranging classes throughout the week for her 200 students.

"Saturdays are long," she says. Some of her students have gone on to institutions such as the School of American Ballet in New York City and Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Washington. Two others have gone directly into professional ballet.

She says the most rewarding thing as a teacher is to share the dream of the arts with others.

"For my serious dancers, it’s what they have to do. It feeds their soul," she says.

Betsy Willis

Development Director, Old Town Playhouse

As development director at Old Town Playhouse, Betsy Willis looks for ways to keep the playhouse self-sustaining for her and others. She says the job is a natural fit for her, as it combines creative and analytical elements.

"I’m a left brain/right brain person. I can see both sides. I’m a very practical person," she says.

On the other hand, she was a vocalist in high school and acted in college. She continued to nourish that facet in community theatre, performing, directing and serving as volunteer, on the board, and on staff at Little Traverse Civic Theatre in Petoskey.

Paying service to the left, analytical side, Willis earned a degree in business administration from Northwood University.

Willis says she really got hooked on theatre when she directed her first show, Tribute, by Bernard Slade, in the early 80s. Seeing her artistic vision come to fruition through the efforts of others gave her a thrill and satisfaction she calls a crowning moment. "As an actor, you get a sense of that. When it comes together as a director, you create a piece of art."

Willis says the appeal of theatre for her is that it includes different means of artistic expression. "Performing, visuals, music. It has everything."

When Old Town Playhouse sought a development director in 2010, she applied for the position and was hired. Willis explains that her role as a fundraiser appeals to both aspects of her personality.

"I can explain when people ask me why this is a charity," she says. "I get to raise money for something and talk about something that makes me happiest."

It’s not all about directly soliciting gifts from individuals. Willis also writes grants, sells ads for programs and plans fundraising events. She’s also been working with the contractors regarding the recent renovations to the facility, meeting with project manager Gary Bolton and contractors and designers to decide on colors, fixtures, and the design of the improvements.

"There’s a lot of creativity" [involved in her job], she says.