Our board members oversee the work of Austin Area Arts. They help envision the future of arts and culture and keep us connected to the community. Thanks, folks.

Penny Kinney

Board President Penny Kinney has been active in Southeast Minnesota theatres—on stage and behind the scenes–for nearly 50 years. Her roots in the theatre were planted at Austin State Jr. College (now Riverland Community College) and in Summerset Theatre–back in 1969. She has served in every capacity in theatre from chorus member to producer. Penny was born and raised in Rose Creek, Minnesota. She worked for Hormel Foods for 35 years. If you know and love a song by a 1950s/60s girl group, I bet Penny could sing along with you!

Rae Dawn Rao

An analytically minded art enthusiast, Rae Dawn resides in Austin with her husband and two teen-age daughters. A Senior Regulatory Analyst for Hormel Foods, Rae Dawn is a member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and Our Saviors Lutheran Church. She enjoys reading, knitting and attending arts and culture events. She serves as the Board Vice President.

Erin McClimon

This Iowa native has a strict no-drama policy and serves as Treasurer. She is a Financial Analyst for Ag Leader with over 20 years experience in accounting. Erin enjoyed dance as a kid and can’t decide if her favorite musical is Wicked or My Fair Lady. Erin lives in Austin with her dog Sophie.

Rick Young

Now retired, Rick owned an oral surgery practice in Austin where his dry wit put patients at ease. Rick is Board Secretary and serves on the Gambling committee. Rick shared his singing and dancing talents for years with the now-defunct Northwestern Singers. Rick and his wife Carol enjoy traveling. Rick grew up in Alaska and is Austin Area Arts’ best hope for survival in a zombie apocalypse.

Austere Apolo

Austere Apolo came to Austin from Worthington, MN to support her family’s grocery business. She now works as a Public Health Nurse at Mower County Health and Human Services. Austere is a musician and her experience learning piano in a Thai refugee camp helped her connect with peers in America by participating in band while she was learning English.

John Beckmann

An attorney and author, John Beckmann has lived in Austin since 1979. Beckmann earned both undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Minnesota. He has exceptional writing talents and practices law in the areas of products liability, personal injury, wrongful death, employment law, commercial disputes, fire, arson and construction litigation at Hoversten, Johnson, Beckmann & Hovey LLP. John was a presenting author at the Austin ArtWorks Festival 2012 and 2018.

Emily Braaten

Emily is the Gambling Manager for the organization.  Her strongest skill is being able to count out 100 pulltabs. She is a mostly stay-at-home mom raising a free-spirited daughter. Emily was a teacher for Austin Public Schools and plans to teach again soon. In her free time, she likes to garden and bike. 

Zach Fadness

Austin native Zach Fadness is a Senior Mechanical Engineer at Hormel Foods. Zach enjoys long-distance running and biking. He once continuosly biked 165 miles across Wisconsin. He is the only member of the board who has completed the Boston Marathon.

Brianne Erickson

Brianne is a Private Wealth Advisor at Ameriprise Financial.

Kandee Feist

A native of Austin, Kandee was Austin High School's inaugural "Artist of the Year" winner in 1995. She has an AA degree in Visual Communications from Brown Institute and is a financial worker at Mower County Health and Human Services. A mom and small business owner, Kandee is co-chair of the Visual Artists Committee of Austin ArtWorks Festival. Kandee believes in arts enrichment for everyone —not just the 'arty types' and has a high energy ‘get-r-done’ attitude.

An Le

An is a lab animal care technician at the Hormel Institute (Univ. of MN) and the only member of the board with a certificate in Zebrafish Husbandry (Univ of Alabama at Birmingham). An is active in the City of Austin Human Rights Commission and Lesbians Who Tech & Allies. He earned three bachelor’s degrees from Rutgers University (animal science, biological sciences, cell biology and neuroscience) in his home state of New Jersey. A multi-instrumentalist, An plays the saxophone and violin and his college marching band performed at the Super Bowl in 2014.

Michelle Lilly

Michelle Lilly recruits new talent for Hormel Foods Corp. An aspiring comedian, Michelle is recovering from working as an accountant for an oil and gas company for more than a decade. In her downtime, Michelle enjoys binge-watching TV with her husband but she does not know what is for dinner so just don’t ask, ok?

Shannon Salinas

Shannon is the Human Resources Manager at Hy-Vee.

Advisory Corps

These community leaders are available on an as-needed basis to offer support and expertise to Austin Area Arts.

Randy Kramer, retired Financial Advisor

Isaac Leyk, Senior Mechanical Engineer at Hormel Foods

Belita Schindler, retired Interior Designer

Dom Venzant, Arts Faculty at Riverland Community College