People & Community
The People's Museum for Prince is built by people—artists, poets, curators, musicians, historians, worldwide Prince community members and volunteers—who believe Prince's legacy belongs to all of us.
With our hearts in Minneapolis, we work together as an international community from all around the world, to honor Prince and pay tribute to the way art changes lives.
We regularly update this page with the people and community organizations helping create the Museum in 2026.
Emma Balázs
Founding Curator
Emma Balázs is an Australian curator and filmmaker who founded The People's Museum for Prince after witnessing the profound community response to Prince's death in 2016. With a PhD in Curatorial and Museum Studies from the University of Melbourne and a Masters from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she brings two decades of experience across leading international art institutions in Australia, the US, and Singapore. Her "counter museum" approach prioritizes community voices over institutional narratives, creating collective portraits through personal stories, artwork, and objects. The 2018 People's Museum for Prince prototype attracted over 3,000 visitors during Minneapolis's Art-A-Whirl weekend, demonstrating the hunger for accessible, inclusive cultural experiences that center community memory. The 2026 iteration, commemorating ten years since Prince's passing, expands this vision through an open call for stories and artwork from Prince's global community. Emma's work has gained recognition through presentations at University of Minnesota Prince symposiums, MoPop Seattle, and a forthcoming chapter in "Blackstar Rising and The Purple Reign" (Duke University Press), edited by Yale Prince scholar Daphne Brooks. Originally trained as a filmmaker at Victorian College of the Arts, Emma recently completed digital storytelling training with StoryCenter founder Joe Lambert, integrating multimedia storytelling to connect Prince storytellers and audiences everywhere.
Maija Garcia
Director of the Capri
Maija Garcia leads the Capri which is hosting the People's Museum. Maija is an accomplished artistic leader, director, producer, curator, educator, and advocate for equity in the arts, Maija brings decades of experience across the performing arts industry—from Broadway and international festivals to film, television, and regional theater.
My Prince Story
Jennifer Umolac
Mpls Legacy Ambassador
Jennifer Umolac brings deep community engagement, festival coordination and Prince community experience to support the Museum in Minneapolis. To be a high school graduate in 1986 in a suburb of Minneapolis was to be steeped in the mystery of mystique of Prince at every turn. He was omnipresent yet elusive in the backrooms and on the stages of the clubs he was elevating to world wide recognition. It was at that time that I spent a year as an exchange student in Sweden and realized that being from the same hometown as Prince not only told people where I was from, it made me somehow cooler too. And so began a lifetime of travels that connected Prince and me through the love of our shared home, Minneapolis. Through decades of journeys and 47 countries, Prince was the calling card I used to introduce my city to new friends around the world. Read Jen's full story on link below. Picture: Jen and Chilli at Paisley Park August 2016, with Jen's portable shrine.
Hanna Ögren
Swedish singer and songwriter
European Ambassador to the People's Museum. My name is Hanna Ögren. I'm a Swedish singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and lifelong Prince fan. I live in northern Sweden in a town called Umeå, together with my husband, our two teenaged sons and our dog Harry. Prince's music has been with me through thick and thin and it has helped me get through some very hard situations numerous times in my life. His music has also inspired me to write my own. Incredibly hard to pick a favourite song but I do absolutely love "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker."
Brenda Clemons
Artist
Outreach for People's Museum. Brenda Clemons, raised near Washington, D.C., holds a BA from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. Her work has appeared in The Delmarva Farmer, The Organized Labor Journal, and Zinger News. Interested in research, history, and human-interest stories, she currently lives in Powhatan, Virginia.
Peyton Scott Russell
Roberts Gallery
Peyton Scott Russell and Roberts Gallery are hosting the People's Museum in June 2026. Peyton is a renowned Minneapolis graffiti artist, educator, and community builder whose work has shaped some of the most powerful visual symbols of recent decades. Working under the moniker Daskarone, Russell founded Juxtaposition Arts in 1995, the first arts organization in Minneapolis to interweave graffiti with fine arts instruction. He currently leads SPRAYFiNGER®, an arts organization dedicated to graffiti arts education, working to increase awareness and deepen understanding of graffiti as a teachable fine art. Peyton’s iconic portrait of George Floyd, "Icon of a Revolution #1," became a defining symbol of the movement for racial justice. His connection to Prince runs deep—in the 1990s, his work was featured at Prince's Glam Slam nightclub, and he later worked as a scenic artist at Paisley Park. Following Prince's death, Peyton transformed Prince's First Avenue star using precious gold leaf, creating the now-iconic gold star that has been replicated in murals across Europe and become a symbol of Minneapolis' celebration of Prince's legacy. In 2025, Peyton purchased Homewood Studios from his former high school teacher and mentor George Roberts, who had run the North Minneapolis community arts space for over 30 years. Peyton has renamed it to Roberts Gallery to continue the legacy George and Bev Roberts created. Peyton is honored to host The People's Museum for Prince in June 2026, bringing Prince's legacy home to the artist's childhood neighborhood.
Tammy Ortegon
ColorWheel Gallery
Gallery Partner hosting Southside Satellite of the People's Museum. Speaking with Diverse Voices, Southside Creative Space, ColorWheel Gallery aims to make Art Accessible to Everyone, to Promote Local Artists & to offer Inspiration to Create more Vibrant Communities. ColorWheel has a comfortable, boutique style environment, featuring Tammy Ortegon's vibrant, folk art style along with other local artists in exhibits, live music, poetry, workshops & other special community events. The shop carries a variety of one of a kind items, locally made, vintage, unique art, global inspired treasures, gently used books, re-purposed global clothing, creative supplies & more! I am always hunting for unique treasures, focusing on progressive, sustainable ideas, diverse voices & social change. FB: Tammy Ortegon Artist www.ColorWheelGallery.com 319 W 46th St. Mpls. #612 823 5693 FB: ColorWheelGallery Instagram: colorwheelmpls www.ColorWheelGallery.com Become a fan on Facebook Speaking with Diverse Voices, The ColorWheel Gallery aims to make Art Accessible to Everyone, to Promote our Local Artists & to offer Inspiration to Create more Vibrant Communities.
Kristen Zschomler
Prince Historian
Collaborating partner, Houses of Prince. Kristen Zschomler is a historian, archaeologist, and preservationist who re- searches, writes, and leads tours (including through her innovative app SoundAround Music Tours) about places associated with Prince, the development of the “Minneapolis Sound,” and music history in the Twin Cities. She is also a founding member of the International Centre 4 Prince Studies, which holds academic and fan-focused conferences and publishes peer-reviewed publications to build and sustain Prince’s legacy through interdisciplinary scholarship by exploring and critiquing the multifaceted aspects of his influence across a range of subjects from music to race to gender and beyond. IMAGE: Kristen with friends at the Purple Rain house. Kristen and Emma are collaborating on an ongoing Houses of Prince curatorial research project as part of the People's Museum for Prince.
Artist, People's Museum logo inspiration
Lori Kay Blake-Leighton was born and raised in Alturas California (the REAL northern California) and has lived in Washington state for the past 30 years. She is a wife, mother, grandmother (Nana), co-author of 4 books, an artist and the great grandniece of Will Rogers...Oklahoma's Favorite Son. Lori participated in the 2018 People's Museum and her artwork Purple Passion is the original inspiration for the People's Museum purple eye logo, created by designer Samu Carvajal. Thank you Lori for your permission to use your artwork for the museum!
Hawona Sullivan Janzen
Twin Cities Artist, Curator and Writer
Hawona Sullivan Janzen is a Twin Cities-based curator, artist, and writer who believes that art is the only thing that can save us from ourselves. A historian by training and a Prince fan since adolescence, she has curated numerous Prince-themed exhibitions including "Where Purple Reigns: Minnesota Artists on Prince," "Minnesota Poets on Prince," and "Like a Prince: Crafting Love Poems That Stand the Test of Time" at the University of Minnesota's Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC). Her multidisciplinary practice spans roles as gallery curator, coordinator of the Literary Witnesses poetry series, and improvisational jazz singer with the Sonoglyph Collective. With deep Minnesota cultural networks and extensive public art experience—including the award-winning Dale Street Bridge Project—she brings essential community connections and cultural knowledge to collaborative projects. She is currently mentoring twelve Minnesota artists in the Minnesota Parks Artist in Residence program while working on the Rondo Family Reunion public art installation. Hawona's generous introduction to artist and gallerist Peyton Scott Russell brought The People's Museum to Roberts Gallery in North Minneapolis.
People: 2018 Edition
Our first exhibition in Minneapolis, May 2018 welcomed over 3,000 visitors over the Art-A-Whirl weekend, presenting an immersive experience of Prince-inspired art and stories from 30+ artists and storytellers from around the world.
Here's a flashback to the 2018 museum on our Purple Preview community night- a photo feature story by Minneapolis radio station The Current.
We're deeply grateful to the artists, community members and the core support team of volunteers who made it possible.
Artists and Story Contributors
Geoff Bell, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Rich A. Benson, Minneapolis, MN
Lori Kay Blake-Leighton, Ferndale, WA
Mark Bonde, Minneapolis,MN
Linda Clayton, Minneapolis, MN
Carolin Drewitz, Hamburg, Germany
Penni Goode-Evans, Alabama
Bonnie Freshour, Honolulu, Hawaii
Kaitlin Frick, Minneapolis, MN, and Portland, OR
Gail George, New York, NY
Troy Gua, Seattle, WA
jbayliss, Minneapolis, MN
Michael Holtz, Minneapolis, MN
Bobby Huntley II, Atlanta, GA
Jeannine Jansegers, Bornem, Belgium,
Dana Lemoine, Minneapolis, MN
Becky Madrid, Berkeley, CA
Samantha McCarroll-Hyne, Minneapolis,MN
Bon Mott, Melbourne, Australia
Kevin Nickelson, Minneapolis,MN
Milton Raposo, Bermuda
Erin Sayer, Minneapolis, MN
Hawona Sullivan Janzen, Minneapolis
Jennifer Rae Umolac, Minneapolis and Puerto Rico
Heidi Vader, Minnepolis, MN
Una Renee Walton, San Diego, CA
Kristen Zschlomer, Minneapolis, MN
Creative Team
Graphic Design: Carolin Drewitz
Story Editor: Kevin Nickelson
Prince-inspired Baked delights: Suzanne Wint
DJ: Michael Holz
Installation Photography: Daniel R. Pratt
Installation & Events: Jennifer Umolac, David Caufman, Kevin Nickelson, Suzanne Wint.
Special Gratitude
These people made the 2018 exhibition possible: Chiara Bernasconi, Jill Boogren, David Caufman, Robert Cohanim, Rebecca Langeson, Kevin Nickelson, Kirk Thoren, Georgia Richter, Mike Schardin, Michelle Streitz, Jennifer Umolac, Heidi Vader, Ann Wilson, Suzanne Wint, Kristen Zschomler.
Institutional Support - 2018
Prince from Minneapolis Symposium (University of Minnesota)
University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts, LATIS
Solar Arts Building, Minneapolis (Venue host)
Founding research was supported by the University of Melbourne, 2016-2019