Questions for Erin Wilson, founder of Until Love Is Equal, director of Wealthy Theatre and board president of ArtPeers.

You're involved in Wealthy Theatre, Until Love Is Equal and ArtPeers. What's your main focus for 2012?
I couldn't say one would be less immense than the other. There's the centennial campaign at the theatre and ArtPeers is in the middle of a major reboot. Of course, we carry on with Until Love Is Equal.

Until Love Is Equal began in June of 2011 as a response to the City of Holland's June 15 vote excluding sexual orientation and gender identity from an anti-discrimination ordinance. How has the movement grown since then?
I think it's grown largely because it's a positive movement. It's not angry, it's beyond reactionary. And for me, I come at this as a straight, white, male conservative. It's really about loving a group of people enough to say, "I don't care what you do in the privacy of your home with your partner, that's how much I love you."

At times, it was mistaken as a boycott of Holland. But really, it's more about supporting the businesses and organizations that are welcoming to all customers. How do you make sure that point is clear?
We've had a series of efforts that involved e-mailing, messaging, calling and in-person visits to try to extend this invitation. There are a number of businesses that are on the list that initially weren't because it wasn't clear enough that we were not a boycott. We worked with them to clear that up in the description of what we're doing. We're not doing anything negative or otherwise about businesses that are not on the list.

I find it interesting that you're approaching an issue that's normally labeled as ‘liberal' in a conservative manner.
It's one thing that's inadvertently made this movement different. I think that we probably puzzle some of our partners. It's a complementary thing. Obviously we're working toward the same end, but the thing that's different about Until Love Is Equal is it that it's a single focus. The best thing that could possibly happen is that we render ourselves useless by having these protections put in place.

So you've reached your goal if you don't need to exist?
People are going to read this interview in 50 years and it's not going to make any sense. I or the people that are in Until Love Is Equal shouldn't be looked at as doing anything enlightening. This is pretty basic stuff. You shouldn't get points for saying something so obvious.

Until Love Is Equal and Brewery Vivant are partnering for a Valentine's Day event. At the event, you'll be selling buttons and stickers. What more can people expect?
Brewery Vivant is planning an inspired, non-Hallmark Valentine's Day event 'for everyone else' — a 'lonely hearts club' with amazing food pairings, beer samples, truffles and camaraderie. And a portion of all sales goes to Until Love Is Equal. (More info)

Let's talk about you a little bit. Where did you grow up?
I was born in Muskegon Heights and I lived in Grand Rapids for a year, then I moved to New York. I lived in the Dominican Republic for a while.

When did you leave Grand Rapids?
In late 1998. When I moved to New York and Santo Domingo it was to immerse myself in something that was much bigger than myself.

What did you do in New York?
I went to New York to become a writer. I've written since I was 12 years old, but you get there and you realize how much of an uphill climb that is. That's not casting it in a bad way.

What brought you back to Grand Rapids from New York?
[My partner, Amy, and I] got pregnant and at the time, it really wasn't the place to raise a child, so we looked at different options. There's the two-Indian-restaurant rule: I would never move to a city that didn't have two Indian restaurants, so that was a fundamental part.

It's also given you the chance to be a fundamental part of organizations.
We have this opportunity right now to shape our future. This doesn't come along very often and that's where with ArtPeers, our first mandate was to try to address the lack of sustainable options for artists. If we feel like we benefit from them, we have to make a place for them by giving them a level playing field.

You have three kids, two boys and a girl. Do they participate in the work you do?
If my kids are at a sound check with me, they'll go up to the performer — whether it's Michelle Shocked or somebody local — and they'll say, ‘This is my Papi's theatre.' And it's completely not my theatre, but it's really cute to hear.

Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Lindsay Patton-Carson. Photos by Seth Thompson.

Questions for Dana Friis-Hansen, director and CEO of Grand Rapids Art Museum

You came on board as director and CEO of the GRAM in July. What did you know about Grand Rapids before moving here?

I had done a lot of research because I wanted to make sure this was a good fit. I'm a people person and I'm an art person, so the magic happens for me when I can connect people to art. And I think GRAM is a good platform for that. The new building is amazing. The permanent collection is good and has lots of opportunity to get better. The community is full of warm, engaging and welcoming people.

How is Grand Rapids different from your previous home in Austin, Texas?

Perhaps Austin hasn't been challenged by the economy in the ways that Grand Rapids has. Texas was spared from a lot of suffering in the last recession. You can get too comfortable there. I was there for 10 years. I was looking for a change and Grand Rapids found me. I feel like this is meant to be.

What would you like to add to the GRAM?

What we need to do is build a bigger, broader audience and support group. We need to be more user-friendly, to be more welcoming, be more engaged with people's imaginations.

I feel like the more recent exhibitions such as Warrington Colescott and Robert Rauschenberg have given the museum extra personality.

Oh, good.

They're really unique artists and appeal to different demographics, I think.

We're a forward-looking art museum ... There's a danger if museums follow the path of history rather than question the history. And I don't want to be a museum that's a mausoleum or a warehouse.

Do you think these strategies will help educate the community about art?

I would say that education is the bedrock of the art museum. That's why we exist. Originally, art museums were created to protect objects, but this is a public place. It's a place where things happen and things come alive. What we want to do is make a one-time visitor into a repeat visitor and feel comfortable here.

What do you mean by comfortable?

Going to the museum should not be like taking medicine. It should be engaging and it should reach you at your own level.

2011 was your first ArtPrize. How was researching it versus experiencing it?

I thought I knew what ArtPrize was going to be like, but I had no idea how intense it was going to be. There's so much happening and it's happening on a variety of different levels and such a rapid pace. The intensity was wonderful and exhausting.

What do the top 10 results say about our community's knowledge of art?

They're responding to what they liked and didn't like, and we should have asked a different question. Ask them, "Is this strong art? Is this good art?" and "What does good art mean to you?" If you asked everyone, ‘Do you like vanilla ice cream?' then if you don't hate vanilla ice cream, you like it - so vanilla ice cream will be accepted.

What are you excited about for 2012?

We put together a series of exhibitions that I think will appeal to a broad variety of people. We've got some different ways of promoting them and presenting them that I think will connect.

Interview conducted and edited by Lindsay Patton-Carson. Photo by Tommy Valdez.

Q&A with Lisa Rose Starner, homesteader and herbalist.

You've been labeled as a foodie, food blogger, herbalist and Urban Ranch owner. How do you describe yourself?

Homesteader and herbalist. I'm an urban homesteader, I've got more than 100 plants at my house that we use for food, and then I dry for herbal remedies and turn them into syrups and concoctions.

Do you consider yourself a foodie?
Being a foodie falls short of what it means to me. It's not about who has the best food.

So you're not offended by SPAM eaters?
(Laughs) I was brought up on casseroles with canned tuna and canned cream of mushroom soup and white bread - and that's OK with me. I look at the food culture and it's gotten so wrapped up in itself. We kind of forget that not everybody has access to high-end foods, not everybody has space in their garden to grow food. Am I offended by SPAM? God, no. Am I horrified by SPAM? Absolutely! I'm much less of a food snob than somebody would guess me for. Sometimes, you just want the bologna sandwich. I may horrify people by saying that. I did have a bologna sandwich a year ago - I just had one.

The Urban Ranch, your live and work space, has been in your husband's family since 1951. What came first, food or love?
We met 10 years ago at a founding meeting of the Grand Rapids Food Systems Council, so food came first. He sat next to me and I asked to borrow a pen. We drove out to New Holland for beers with the group and then we had a date walking around the farmers markets.

When did you start becoming conscious about what you eat?
Food has been a main component of my life since I was an undergraduate at Grand Valley.

What was it that struck up your interest in food?
I studied in Nice as part of my undergraduate work. And that was probably the first time I learned what it meant to spend hours at a table. The Europeans experience food in a very different way that Americans experience food.

When did you start cooking?
I'm self-taught and I really started cooking in college. Certainly when I went abroad, that opened up my learning. One of my first Asian infusions - much to my amusement - was adding bull kelp seaweed to macaroni and cheese. It was awful!

So you learned by trial and error?
Lots of trial and error. Finally, I learned to seek out people who really knew what they were doing. From that point on, I've always been surrounded by people who know how to cook or know how to grow things.

What do you listen to while you cook?
Miles Davis.

How local is your diet?
50 to 75 percent - it's not all local. I like my coffee. Certainly, there are times when I'm at Meijer and they don't have local shredded cheese, and that's all I have the capacity for. I try to stay away from Kraft, but there's some non-local and non-organic stuff that ends up in my cart. It's exhausting to feel like you have to achieve this sense of perfection. Is it possible? Yes, humans would not have survived up to this point. Plus, we were more mobile. Now were sedentary and we have grocery stores.

Is it possible to completely eat local?
Once upon a time, people ate only local food. The question really is, how much do we want to eat local? How much do we want to invest in terms of infrastructure in storage and time for food preservation? And that depends on the person, really.

Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Lindsay Patton-Carson. Photo: Adam Bird

Questions for Patricia Barker, artistic director for Grand Rapids Ballet Company

Last August, Grand Rapids Ballet Company brought you in as interim director. Then, a few months ago, you were named the artistic director. What does this mean for the company?

The dancers relaxed a little bit because they had already had a year with me, now they know someone else isn't coming in to make a decision and judge them as artists. I think that settled everyone down a little bit knowing they won't have to learn someone else's way of working.

When you came in last year, the 2010/2011 season had already been announced. With Gordon Peirce Schmidt's departure, the season had to be restructured.

That was the most interesting part because I came and met with the board and staff to look at what was in the repertoire, and there was nothing. So without seeing the dancers, without knowing the audience and organization — just knowing about the community — I went and set a season.

How did you choose the pieces?

I picked through works by renowned choreographers, proven works that I knew would be great for this community ... some of my favorites to watch. When you stay with proven works by renowned choreographers, you can't go wrong.

Was this a big career change for you?

I had already been retired for four years and I was already doing this work. I was an artistic advisor for the Slovak National Ballet, and I've staged Balenchine ballets around the world — I was in Hungary for three months staging three of the ballets for the Hungarian National Ballet. I've traveled a lot doing exactly what I'm doing here, but I get to do everything in one place here.

Must be less stressful.

It is. It's nice not having to take all those flights all the time.

This past season had a record-breaking 19 sellouts. Was that a surprise to you?

It wasn't a surprise to me. I think it was a great energy boost for the organization and something that shows that dance does survive in Grand Rapids.

When did you start as a dancer?

I started just like any other little girl. I was seven years old when I started dancing and it was the right fit for me — physically and mentally, it was something I excelled at. Everyone wants to excel at something, so I was lucky that my father put me into ballet.

What do enjoy about being a dancer as opposed to a teacher?

They're two very different roles. Dancers need to be dedicated because they need to be rested, they need to be well-nourished and in a heightened state of athleticism. You grab everything you can from people who help you. As a teacher and director, I need to divide my time between all those hungry artists and make sure everybody feels comfortable. What I like is I get to pass on the information I got from my coaches and teachers to the next generation.

What makes a good performance?

When you leave a little of yourself onstage for the audience.

What do you mean by that?

A connection with the audience is the most important. An audience member comes to support you. They already like you, they came, they took the time. It's important to create a wonderful experience for an audience member as soon as they walk into our doors. They walk into our home; we're gracious to them, they feel something magical when they come in.

Do you miss being onstage?

I think I am still onstage. Each time my dancer goes out there, a little bit of me goes with them because of the coaching, because of the training and because I believe in them so much.

Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Lindsay Patton-Carson. Photos by Ryan Pavlovich.