Governor Mark Dayton has appointed Dr. Anton Treuer, professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, to a four-year term on the Minnesota State Arts Board. The board’s eleven citizen-members are appointed by the governor with the advice and approval of the Minnesota Senate. The board is a state agency that stimulates and encourages the creation, performance, and appreciation of the arts in the state. Its $60 million biennial budget is appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature; funds are used to provide financial assistance and other programs and services designed to make the arts more available to all Minnesotans.

In addition to his teaching duties, Treuer is editor of the only academic journal of the Ojibwe language and author of eight books. Treuer has championed Minnesota’ traditional indigenous art forms and worked to expand the definition of arts to include oral narrative and story performance, especially as they intersect with the Ojibwe language. Treuer earned a PhD and a MA from the University of Minnesota, and a BA from Princeton University.