Denali Arts Council executive director resigns

The executive director of the Denali Arts Council has handed in her resignation, effective February 28. Mindy Lindgren has been leading the organization for four years, first as the business director, then the executive director. Lindgren and her family are planning to move in early March to Ashland, Oregon. The Lindgrens have lived in Talkeetna for more than a decade and left their mark on the community in the education field as well as in the arts community.

Reflecting on the time spent with the Denali Arts Council, Lindgren said that one of her goals has been to see the arts council flourish to its potential. She said that the community can be credited for growing the arts council’s programming. Lindgren said, “All I had to do was to keep up with the growth and offer the administrative structure to facilitate it.”

Under her leadership and the guidance of the board, the Denali Arts Council put policies and procedures into place to help day-to-day operations, developed and maintained a website and created a strategic plan.

Lindgren said she feels confident that the strategic plan would serve as a roadmap for her successor.

Lindgren also said that she would continue to serve on the board of directors of the Northern Susitna Institute. Lindgren helped found the educational program called “A Classroom with a View”, which was in 2010 folded into the Northern Susitna Institute as a program.

She added that she and her family loved being in Talkeetna for the past 15 years and that she especially appreciated the tight-knit community of people who rely on each other and respect each other in good times and bad.

The Denali Arts Council is accepting resumes until March 14 to fill the open, part time executive director position.