Dawn Morgan has been the executive director and curator of the Spirit Room since 1997. It is through her talent and commitment to serving the needs of the community that the Spirit Room has developed into a vital organization. She has been a key player in the development of the Spirit Room art gallery, classes, workshops and cultural events and in collaborations with other non-profit organizations. Morgan has curated nearly one-hundred-fifty art exhibits at the Spirit Room and has judged two art shows within the community. In addition, Morgan redeveloped the physical site for the Spirit Room in downtown Fargo in an historic building that had been abandoned for thirty years. Morgan assumed financial responsibility for the Spirit Room for seven years until the organization received 501(c)(3)non-profit status in August of 2004 as an educational organization. Morgan is described by former MSUM President Roland Dille as an arts entrepreneur.
Morgan’s background includes a BS degree in English from NDSU and two years of graduate level studies in special education at MSUM. She continues her studies of history, philosophy and religion. She has collaborated with NDSU and MSUM faculty in programming through the art, architecture and literature departments. Morgan taught at a Special Education Cooperative in Audubon, MN, earned a North Dakota real estate license, is currently owner and project manager for MorganStar Design, was publisher and editor of the Shining Times, a literary publication, is employed by NDSU as a Certified Yoga Instructor and serves on several boards throughout the community, including, Past-President of the Scandinavian Hjemkomst Festival, in 2004 became a founding board member of FM Visual Artists which presents the Studio Crawl each October, is Past-President of the Fargo Moorhead Heritage Society, an architectural preservation organization, served on the Historic Preservation Commission with the City of Fargo for nine years, and is current President of the Jefferson Area Neighborhood Association, forming the organization in 2005 with the help of city planners. Dawn Morgan has been active in the redevelopment of downtown Fargo and has served on several committees and commissions relating to downtown revitalization. Recently, in July, 2008, she was appointed by Mayor Walaker to the Fargo Public Library board which will oversee the building of a new library in downtown Fargo. Neighborhood preservation is high on her list of priorities as well as progressive city planning to promote the development of a vital community.
Dawn Talks About Yoga
My experience with yoga began in the late sixties with the Zen, jazz and poetry of the time. I began to study Eastern thought, Tibetan Buddhism, Meditation and Hatha Yoga. With the help of a book entitled Integral Yoga Hatha by Sri Swami Satchidananda, I followed this direct approach to Hatha Yoga for many years as a personal practice. When Marilynn Quam, Mamata, came back from the East, having been out of the country for thirteen years, I began studying yoga with her and a group of dedicated students, most of whom still teach yoga at the Spirit Room. In 2002, Gini Duval and I and Cheryll McDowell were certified through Atma Yoga, a teacher-training program developed by Christopher Baxter, founding member and teacher at Kripalu Institute. We became certified and registered professional yoga teachers through Atma Yoga and theYoga Alliance. Christopher’s gentle and fluid approach to yoga has been the inspiration from which I have begun to combine my Shambhala Meditation training and Atma Yoga into a new approach toward yoga.
Dawn Morgan, Executive Director