HomeMy WebLinkAboutEdinaArtCenter_MichaelFrey_Nov2012
City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Emilie Kastner, Communications Assistant
Phone 952-826-0342 • Fax 952-826-0389 • www.EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City Hires Permanent General Manager For Edina Art Center
Edina, Minn., Nov. 20, 2012 – The City of Edina recently hired award-winning artist Michael Frey as the
new General Manager of the Edina Art Center.
For the past year, Frey has filled in as interim leader at the Edina Art Center, where he began teaching classes
in 1998.
A 1999 graduate of the Atelier Studio Program of Fine Art, an art school in Minneapolis, Frey has a degree in
realistic drawing. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Colorado.
The Edina Art Center is part of the City’s Parks & Recreation Department. One of Frey’s goals for the Art
Center is to maintain and build upon the friendly atmosphere and sense of community that residents and
visitors have grown to love and expect.
“To me, the arts are about seeing things in life a different way than other people,” said Frey. “The reason I
love working at the Art Center is that artists look at the world differently. I guess for me, I can relate to how
they look at the world because I look at it in a similar way.”
The Edina Art Center employs two full-time staff members, including Frey, as well as 11 part-time staff. There
are 85 instructors on the Art Center’s complete roster, 45 to 50 of whom are currently teaching. The Edina
Art Center has a $650,000 budget. In addition to overseeing classes, programs, staff and the facility, Frey also
serves as staff liaison to the Art Center Board, which meets once per month.
A resident of Minneapolis, Frey has won several awards for his portraiture, including the 2001 fourth-place
Merit Award at the Minnesota State Fair; 2003 Merit Award, Edina Art Center Juried Show; 2003 Peer
Award, Edina Art Center Juried Show; 2004 Honorable Mention, GLBT Pride Art Show; 2005 Merit Award,
Edina Art Center Juried Show; 2005 Peer Award, Edina Art Center Juried Show; and 2005 Best In Show,
GLBT Pride Art Show.
The Edina Art Center, 4701 W. 64th St., is open 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Friday and
9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday. For more information or to register for classes, call 952-903-5780, email
ArtCenter@EdinaMN.gov or visit www.EdinaArtCenter.com.
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