Sometimes, you don’t know you want to go home until the opportunity presents itself.
For Anna Pollock, discovering what she wanted to do with herself and finding positions that allowed her to do that led her back to Waseca. She now serves as executive director of the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council.
“When I learned about the position opening, I actually didn’t know much about the regional arts council system,” she said recently, seated in the gallery at the Waseca Arts Center.
Today, more than 15 months after taking the position in July 2023, she volunteers a quick summary of the system before talking about herself. This act of raising awareness is something she’s been doing a lot of as she crisscrosses the counties of Region Nine.
“We are one of 11 regional arts councils across the state, and we are all supported in part by the Legacy Amendment. Back in 2008 the Minnesota voters voted that in.”
Minnesota is the only state with arts funding included in its Constitution, she added, though that could change when the original amendment sunsets in 2033. Making sure it doesn’t is a part of her ongoing mission.
The more she learned about that built-in arts support, the more she realized the Prairie Lakes position would be the proper culmination of a career in the arts, different event groups and media groups.
While it may seem strange to hear a 30-year-old talking about the culmination of her career, for the native of nearby Meriden, the regional job based in Waseca is a true coming home. Her mother is Jodie Pollock, former elementary music teacher at Hartley, and her dad is Chuck Pollock, who manages the performing arts center at the Waseca Junior/Senior High School.
After graduating from Waseca High School, she studied music business at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, graduating at age 20. She worked with events, learning how to establish relationships that would benefit performers as well as venue owners.
She also worked for the GRAMMY Foundation in Los Angeles and WCCO radio, exploring the ins and outs of a variety of segments of the business of the arts.
In 2020 she learned about an organization called Lead For Minnesota, also headquartered in Waseca, where she served as deputy director for two years.
“I got this spark in me about rural Minnesota,” she told the website 100ruralwomen.org. “I wanted to learn more about what divides rural and urban spaces and also what brings them together.”
That background and the energy she brings to moving forward has been a good fit for PLRAC, said board member Gabriela Roemhildt.
“I have only been on the PLRAC board since June and was not part of the hiring process for Anna, but in my short time on the board I have been incredibly impressed with her work, knowledge and energy level,” Roemhildt said.
“She is so passionate about her position and supporting local arts. Most particularly, not only is she is straight-out smart with facts and figures but also with people.”
With people in mind, Pollock has been touring the counties she serves, not only meeting people who benefit from arts grants but also finding ways to adjust programming, grant categories and methods of applying so even the smallest organization can get and benefit from funding.
Funding is not just for larger population centers such as Mankato, Waseca and Owatonna, she said. So she’s visiting St. James, Gaylord, Fairmont and other towns that may suddenly have an arts center and could use help learning how to be utilize it through PLRAC.
“It’s been kind of business as usual for the last decade or so with our programming, so right now … I’ve put a lot of miles on my car and just sitting across a coffee table with someone and getting to know their organization or their art medium and learning what do you need to succeed in arts in this region,” Pollock said.
Perhaps the No. 1 piece of feedback she has received, she said, is the application process. They are considering different ways to make the application accessible — whether the obstacle is a language barrier or intimidation with the process — perhaps allowing a video or oral presentation in the future.
“I really want to focus on those passion projects and the people that are enriching their communities with their art and with their talents, rather than focusing so much on, well, did they write a good grant?”
For more information about the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, visit plrac.org, call 507-833-8721 or email info@plrac.org