Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson is currently the Director of the Arts & Cultural Affairs Department for the City of Minneapolis, and he was formally the Arts and Culture Manager for the City of Beverly Hills in Southern California. Also, he was Director of Performing Arts for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. In this position he was tasked with relaunching the Performing Arts Division of the City of Los Angeles, which included overseeing seven city-owned theaters, relaunching a festival platform for the city, developing cultural exchange programs with venues and artists in LA, and advocating on behalf of LA artists on a national and international level.  Previously, he was the Program Manager at the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (CAP-UCLA) in Los Angeles, considered one of the top contemporary performing arts institutions in the country, and where he produced significant contemporary performing arts events throughout Los Angeles.

Also previously, he was the Director of Programs at United States Artists (LA) which awarded 50, $50,000 awards to artists in all disciplines. He was also the Director of Northrop Concerts and Lectures at the University of Minnesota – Minneapolis, where he re-branded the nationally-acclaimed Northrop Dance Series, and launched a Minnesota Contemporary Dance Platform, and developed an international choreographer’s residency program on behalf of the McKnight Foundation, as well as launched the Women of Substance series devoted to female choreographers.

Previous to this position, he was Director of Education and Audience Development at the University Musical Society at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (MI). While in Michigan.  He also worked at the Ordway Music Theater (St. Paul) as part of the Planet Ordway Series, and interned at the American Dance Festival (NC) and Walker Art Center (MN) under John Killacky in the Performing Arts Department. As an experienced and seasoned multi-disciplinary performing arts presenter, public servant, and curator, he is affiliated with many artists, foundations, funders, and national and international peer institutions.

Photo by Tony Coelho

Full Land Acknowledgement

We respectfully acknowledge the sacred land upon which the events and activities of The Great Northern take place in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. This is the traditional homeland of the Dakhóta Oyáte (Dakota People), unfairly ceded in the Treaties of 1837 & 1851, who stewarded it for millennia. The Ojibwe and other Indigenous nations have cared for this land as well. Minnesota comes from the Dakota name for the area, Mni Sota Makoce — "the land where the waters reflect the skies." (Minneapolis, MN)

Return to National Dance Project