BEVERLY COTTMAN
Beverly Cottman is a storyteller and dancer, visual and performance artist, reader and sometimes gardener. Her life experiences include wife, mother, grandmother and retired school teacher. She loves to travel and try new things, so she signed up to join the Penumbra Quilting Circle. Beverly has been a member of three Black Nativity casts, and being part of a community producing the naming quilt has been a perfect fit. Meeting new people, sharing stories and gaining new skills has been the blessing in this endeavor.

CAROL FORBY
Carol was born, raised and educated in Northeast Minneapolis. She has a degree in cosmetology and has been married to her husband Dan for 51 years. She is a mother of five children and a grandmother of six. Carol retired after 28 years with the J.C. Penny Co. and is now a 15 year volunteer with the Twin Cities Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and volunteers through her parish with Families Moving Forward which feeds and houses needy families. She confesses to being a "basketball junkie" since age 12. She loves all types of music, reading, theatre, gardening, cooking and spending precious time with family and friends. Carol says she is thrilled to be involved with Penumbra Theatre.

MARY FORBY
Mary is a Penumbra season ticket holder, Summer Institute supporter and a first time quilter. She is delighted to be a part of the Penumbra community. She says her life has been enriched in many ways by her experiences and interactions with the incredible people at Penumbra!

JUDITH A. GASTON
A fan and attendee at Penumbra Theatre for over 20 years, Judith was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and moved to Minnesota in 1972. She earned multiple academic degrees and had an exciting 25-year career at the University of Minnesota as an academic professional and faculty member. She has been honored with a number of local and national professional awards for her work and has held a number of offices in state and national professional organizations/boards. As a result of a life-long battle with a rare, genetic respiratory disease, she retired from the academy in 2000. Judith lives with her best friend and husband of 32 years, Paul Gaston, and their miniature schnauzer in Vadnais Heights. Judith believes that nature, creativity, and the arts feed the soul and help strengthen her to keep fighting the good fight. She reads voluminously and works in fiber-related arts including knitting, crochet, beadwork, sewing, quilting and collage. Her work has been sold at the Guthrie Theatre, Gallery 10 in Door County, Absolute Art in Des Moines, and other venues. She honors the art and creation of the Penumbra actors and staff who have provided so many hours of enlightenment.

TONYA GLOVER
Tonya lives in Golden Valley, MN with her husband Zannie and their two sons, Keanu and Quentin. Tonya discovered Penumbra Theatre through her work at Lowry Hill 2 years ago and wanted to become more involved because of Penumbra’s uniqueness. When the opportunity to join the Quilting Circle presented itself she jumped at the chance. Tonya is a first time quilter and has found that quilting is something she wants to continue in her spare time. Tonya's experience with the Quilting Circle has been remarkable. Tonya says of the quilting circle, "I have developed relationships I hope to continue and will miss my time spent with my fellow quilters. This has been the one of the best experiences of my life."

KELLY GRYTING
Kelly works from home as a self-described computer geek by day. After hours, her passions include paddling and wilderness adventures, and advocating for adoption ethics and education. Kelly and her husband Chuck parent Marit, Bailey, and Mallory, who fully enjoy exploring the northwoods of Minnesota as a family. Kelly joined the Penumbra Quilting Circle as a way to connect with others in a creative community effort and to learn new skills. Kelly's stitches in the quilt's Tree of Life are symbolic of the way she has "stitched together" birth and adoptive families via what she calls 'Wide Open Adoption' to create a networked circle of love surrounding her children. Her motto for life and her dream for the future is that everyone would have a 'Spirit of Adventure... Love of Nature... and Respect for Differences...'.

MICHELLE HIGGINS
Michelle is a wife and mother to two children, ages 17 and 19, two dogs, and two cats. She is extremely active in her church and serves in a number of volunteer positions there. She enjoys singing, spending time with family and friends, and, when time permits, crafting. Her first experience with the Penumbra theatre was through her good friend T. Mychael Rambo, who, after finding out that she had never been to a show, gifted her tickets to Black Nativity and she was hooked! When Michelle received the email about the quilting circle, she immediately called to reserve spaces for herself and her daughter. At the beginning, she didn’t have a lot of quilting experience, but it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to be involved with a community project, spend quality time with her daughter and be a part of the wonderful legacy of the Black Nativity. Michelle says, "I have had a great time meeting and working with people of different backgrounds through the quilting circle group. Together, we have shared laughter and tears and many friendships have been formed."

TAHNEA HIGGINS-BROWN
Tahnea is 19 and currently a child development major at St. Paul College. She loves animals, kids, singing, and doing artsy things. She lives in St. Paul with 2 parents, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 snails, various fish and a brother. Tahnea first came to Penumbra and Black Nativity when her godfather (T. Mychael Rambo) gave the family tickets as a Christmas present. She fell in love and was thrilled at the chance to help make a part of the play happen. Helping to sew the quilt has been an enjoyable experience for her and one she will not soon forget.

ANNE HOFFMAN
Anne is an aspiring quilter who has made many baby quilts for her grandchildren. A native of Minnesota and a frequent audience member at Black Nativity going back to the second year it was produced. She says, "As a retired teacher, I am always interested in learning new things and I have enjoyed the experience of working with others at Penumbra's Quilting Circle project."

VALERIE HUTCHINSON
Valerie is a native Minnesotan. She is a self-taught quilter and has been quilting for approximately 7 years. Her other forms of "therapy" include sewing, crocheting, knitting, cross-stitch, decoupage and candle making. She’s an avid reader and she loves spending time in her kitchen cooking and baking. Valerie is a very active member of New Salem Missionary Baptist Church and serves on the board of directors at The Art of Dance Studio in Minneapolis. For the past year, she has taught knitting and crochet classes through Minneapolis Public Schools Community Education. Valerie is happily married to her high school sweetheart, Earnest.

MARGARET KELBERER
Margaret is a mother of two and K-5 librarian on sabbatical from St Paul Academy and Summit Schools. She learned to sew from her mother who made all of her clothes when she was young. Margaret grew to love creating things with fabric, and her first paycheck went to buying a new sewing machine! She began quilting to make quilts for friends and family to celebrate new babies and weddings. Children and work eventually took away sewing time. One of her personal goals for her sabbatical is to find opportunities for personal growth and to give to the community. When Sarah Bellamy (who she taught in 4th grade!!) e-mailed patrons of Penumbra with this project, it was perfect! The experience has been beyond her expectations. "Gathering with a group of incredible women weekly, working with quilt artists, rekindling her love for sewing, and the opportunity to share her skills and teach others to sew….it has been fantastic. The final product is a collective work of hard work, love and art, truly."

CECILE MARGARET LEWIS (Lead Artist)
Cecile was born in Chicago, IL and raised in Chicago, Nashville, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Belle Prairie and Los Angeles. She returned to Minneapolis in 1994 and has lived here ever since. She describes herself as a child of the African Diaspora, a person of color, a product of the American slave trade – a "New World" person whose feet straddle centuries and continents. Her artistic work includes three media: Photography, Gardening and Textiles. "Photography is my first passion which began when I was fifteen. Gardening, my largest canvas and most fleeting work commenced at age twenty. Textiles are the third medium I explore. My sister taught me to sew when I was thirteen. That sewing was out of necessity. After age forty I came to recognize sewing as an art form." Cecile says of her work, "My language is universal, timeless and understood by all. I speak with stitches."

MARGARET LOVEJOY
Margaret has watched as her four children grew from infancy to adulthood. She watched the as the Summit University neighborhood has gone through numerous changes she associates with the changing seasons. She watched Penumbra Theatre grow from a neighborhood treat to a playhouse with a national reputation. When she received the call that the Penumbra was looking for people to help "grow" a quilt; it seemed like something right up her alley. Margaret has had the mindset of a gardener all her life. She knows that everything in a garden has a life cycle which she associates to the life journey of people. "Watching the idea transform from yards of material to an idea, to strips of colorful cloth to a full size work of art has been a splendid experience. I am proud to have been part of the process."

ROSALIND PERRY-MCKNIGHT (Lead Artist)
A self-proclaimed "Rennisance Woman", Rosalind Perry-McKnight has been an artist all of her life. Her artistic journey began while growing up in Detroit, Michigan amid the dynamics of Motown sound. Her artistic explorations include fictional stories and hand-renderings of family, friends, nature and more. This led to African and Eastern costume and accessory design and ultimately narrative quilt making. After spending 4 years in the US Air Force, Rosalind went back to school, got married and had a family. Without a "fabric stash" she tinkered with snippets of fabric in the early 80s and adorned her children’s bedroom walls with African-based stories. Rosalind holds a BA in English, rhetoric and black theatre from the U of MN and is currently working on her masters degree in creative writing, quilt history and black studies. She is a board member of the Textile Center in Minneapolis. She is a published writer of both nonfiction and fiction with dozens of articles and essays on the African American experience to her credit, and is working on a collection of short stories and a play. Like W.E.B. Dubois, she and her family eagerly look forward to returning to their ancestral roots of Ghana.

MARGARET MOORE
Margaret is long-time Minneapolis resident who has a passion for involving herself in endeavors that are designed to improve the present and future of the African American community. She is a devout Christian who is a mother of two and grandmother of one. She is a life long learner who loves reading and nature. She joined the Penumbra Quilting Circle originally just to learn quilting but have enjoyed the socialization and sisterhood that the circle has provided and the grand opportunity to be a part of this artistic and historical quilting activity. She has attended a number of Penumbra plays and views Penumbra as a part of the essential fabric that provides strength and depth to our community.

MEREDITH OLSON
Meredith remembers attending her first performance of Black Nativity when it was held at the Fitzgerald Theater. Since then, she and her husband have revisited the show along with their 5 children and hope to make it an annual tradition - especially now that she has had the privilege of witnessing the birth of a stunning quilt for this year's production. "What a joy it has been to participate in a hands-on stitching project with a bunch of women I didn’t know before joining Penumbra's Quilting Circle!"

ANITA BACCUS ROBINSON
Anita is the Audience Services Director at Penumbra Theater and has been part of Penumbra's family for over 9 years. She has been Executive Director of Southside Community Clinic in Minneapolis; a pharmaceutical sales rep, taught at Clark College (now Clark-Atlanta University) and earned a Ph.D. from Meharry Medical College. She hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma, is married to Ernest and has one son, Michael. Anita considers herself a self-taught crafter who loves to crochet and quilt. She considers herself lucky to have been a part of Penumbra's first quilting circle and delighted to have met and worked with the lead artisans, as well as all the other participants.

MYRA K. RUCKER
Myra is a native Texan who recently relocated to the Twin Cities. She is a stage manager and writer who grew up watching her great-grandmothers quilt. She started conceiving a quilt to memorialize her college days at Rice University soon after she graduated, but had no idea where to begin until she signed up for this year's "Quilting Circle." She encourages anyone who has ever enjoyed the warmth of a quilt to consider joining next year's circle.

CAROL ANN WINTHER
Carol Ann is the resident costume designer and shop manager for the College of St. Catherine. She also teaches “Makeup and Costume for the Stage”. She is a member of the Technical Advisory Board at Theatre in the Round where her design credits include Uncle Vanya; You Never Can Tell; Ghosts; The Mikado; and She Loves Me. Other recent credits include Blue Umbrella Productions: Where the Girls Are, Girl Friday Productions: Our Town, and Starting Gate Productions: Death of a Salesman. Her interests include supporting new and innovative theatre companies in the area. When she's not busy costuming, she loves to quilt, and especially enjoys community quilting. On Sunday afternoons, Carol Ann travels to Shakopee Correctional Facility where she teaches quilting to a group of offenders. She says, "It’s an opportunity to connect with the community and enrich the lives of others by creating beautiful and functional quilted gifts."

JENNIFER WHITLOCK
This year Jennifer celebrates her 17th year as an ensemble member of Penumbra's Black Nativity. Other Penumbra credits include Purlie; Tambourines to Glory; Ain’t Misbehavin’; Selma; Bubblin’ Brown Sugar; and A Soldiers Play. Jennifer has been a member of the Grammy award-winning Sounds of Blackness for 30 years. She directed and performed in the 2003 – 2005 production of The Night before Christmas a Musical Fantasy, and performed vocals on "Unity," "Soul Symphony," "Reconciliation," “Time for Healing,” “Africa to America,” “The Night Before Christmas,” and “The Evolution of Gospel.” She has provided vocal support on recordings for the Crusadors, Quincy Jones, and Stevie Wonder to name a few. Motion picture soundtracks include Batman, Mo’ Money, Posse, Panther, Rabbit Ears Project, and John Henry.