Four members of Arts Midwest’s Board of Directors concluded their service in November. We are thrilled to welcome them to our Emeritus Board: Jasmin DeForrest, Craig Howe, Jane Rasmussen, and Gregory Volan.
“We are deeply grateful to Jasmin, Craig, Jane, and Gregory for their vision and commitment to Arts Midwest during their Board service,” said Torrie Allen. “Their leadership and expertise have helped us navigate moments of growth and change and we thank them for helping to shape Arts Midwest’s future. We are thrilled to continue connecting with them as Emeritus Board members.”
Jasmin DeForrest
Jasmin DeForrest joined the Arts Midwest Board in 2022. She currently serves as the managing director of Creativity at The Heinz Endowments. She is responsible for leading the Creativity portfolio at the Endowments through designing, implementing, and assessing the impact of the grantmaking strategy while building an extensive community network to help produce a thriving arts scene.
A Detroit native, Jasmin’s career in arts, culture, and program development includes serving as senior director of Arts and Culture at the Detroit-based Gilbert Family Foundation, where she worked prior to joining the Endowments in 2024. Her professional experience also includes community sponsorships director for the Rocket Community Fund, a sister organization to the Gilbert Family Foundation, and special events director at The Parade Company, which presents and promotes America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit.
Dr. Craig Howe
Dr. Craig Howe joined the Arts Midwest Board in 2022. The founder and director of the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies (CAIRNS), he earned a Ph.D. in architecture and anthropology from the University of Michigan.
Howe has authored articles and book chapters on numerous topics, including tribal histories, Native studies, museum exhibitions, and community collaborations. He has developed innovative tribal histories projects and creative museum exhibitions, lectures on American Indian topics across the U.S., and provides professional development and cultural awareness training to schools and organizations.
Howe was raised and lives on his family’s cattle ranch in the Lacreek District of the Pine Ridge Reservation, where he is designing and building Wingsprings, an architecturally unique retreat and conference center that is featured in New Architecture on Indigenous Lands. He is a citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Jane Rasmussen
Jane Rasmussen is a leader and advocate for the arts in South Dakota and in her home community of Sisseton, located in the Lake Traverse Reservation. She joined the Arts Midwest Board in 2016.
Founder and director of the Sisseton Arts Council, Jane worked to develop a model rural arts organization recognized for its community, tribal, and global connections. Rasmussen has served on the South Dakota Arts Council since 2003 and is a former Chair of the Council. She taught English at Sisseton Wahpeton College for many years and is an independent scholar with the South Dakota Humanities Council, where she has been recognized for her work with The Stavig Letters, a project based on family immigrant letters. Jane holds a degree in English Education from Augustana College.
Gregory Volan
Gregory Volan joined the Arts Midwest Board in 2016. His current role is the Director of Finance and Operations for North Chicago School District 187, where he serves as the chief financial officer and treasurer of a school district serving approximately 3,400 students from pre-K through high school.
Previously, Gregory served as a senior budget manager for Chicago Public Schools, the country’s third largest school district. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Information Officer for the City of Bloomington, Indiana, and later as the CFO and Chief Administrative Officer for a technology services start-up company.
Gregory graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in Liberal Studies, and he received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife Katarina and his three children.