HomeMy WebLinkAboutMichael Frey
Contact: Jennifer Bennerotte, Communications & Marketing Director
Phone 952-833-9520 • Fax 952-826-0389 • Web www.CityofEdina.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Frey named Interim Director of Edina Art Center
Edina, Minn., Nov. 1, 2011 -- Michael J. Frey began work as Interim Director of the Edina Art
Center Oct. 17, succeeding longtime Director Diana Hedges. Hedges retired Oct. 14, after 25 years
as a leader of the Art Center and a strong voice for the arts in Edina.
Frey was born in Montana and raised in Boulder, Colo., where he received a bachelor’s degree in
Biology from the University of Colorado. Relocating to Minneapolis in 1981, he trained as a classical
realist painter at The Atelier in Minneapolis from 1995 to 1999. Michael also has a strong financial
background from having spent eight years in the banking industry.
Frey has been a part of the Edina Art Center since August 1998 when he began teaching Realistic
Drawing and Painting and Portraiture classes there. He started with two evening classes, and his
following quickly grew.
In addition, Frey has instructed middle school students with Denise Willey Johnson in the Edina Art
Center’s Art Academy program. Willey instructs in the area of pottery, sculpture and hand-building
and Frey teaches drawing and painting. Enrollment has increased from 14 to 28 students in this
Tuesday evening program, and with instructor Elizabeth Franklin a second session for students has
been added.
“When I mention I love working with middle school students, people often get an interesting look in
their eyes,” Frey said. “The heady mix of angst, creativity and hormones makes teaching middle and
high school students an unbelievably stimulating and rewarding experience.
Frey said he looks forward to engaging the community of Edina in the arts with a new vision of
partnership as he has engaged his teen and adult classes.
The Edina Art Center, located one mile west of Southdale Center at 4701 W. 64th St., provides the
community with a place to enjoy art and a chance to learn how to create it. Classes and workshops
for all ages and abilities and regular exhibits are put on display. In addition to overseeing the Art
Center’s operations, Frey will serve as staff liaison to the Art Center Board, which typically meets at
4:30 p.m. the fourth Thursday of the month and makes policy recommendations for the enterprise.
For more information, visit www.EdinaArtCenter.com. Contact Frey by writing to
mfrey@ci.edina.mn.us.
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