Mitchel Dipzinki
[he|him|his]
Protest Artist/Queer Advocate | Co-Founder/-Facilitator of the Poetics Lab
Phone:
989-590-3851
Email:
Location
Alpena, MI
Personal Statement
Mitchel is a queer artist in NorthEast Michigan who specializes in multi-medium poetry and protest art. He uses his art to engage the community in difficult conversations about identity, inclusivity and bias, and he excels at responding to the needs and current events of his hometown. Mitchel also collaborates closely with local artists and community organizers to reach a wide audience across NE Michigan.
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Mitchel's goal is to one day return to college to earn a PhD in Linguistics or English Lit. His primary focus in academia has been and will continue to be minority story telling, linguistic empowerment and advocacy.
Mitchel hopes that through both his art and academic backgrounds, he can empower others to express themselves freely and openly to the world.
Recent Work Experience
07/2025-present
03/2024-07/2025
09/2022 - 03/2024
07/2021 - 07/2025
01/2021 - Present
Director of Outreach & Development
Art in the Loft
- Facilitate fundraising efforts for an organization with a $175,000.00 annual operating budget
- Coordinate contact with new and emerging artists to display in a 7,000 sq ft gallery space
- Write and manage operating and program-based grants
- Organize and facilitate mailing and social media campaigns to reach potential members and sponsors within the community
- Communicate with current members and sponsors to maintain positive relationships and promote continued use of benefits within the space
- Collaborate with the Executive Director to promote mission-driven messaging and community outreach
- Write monthly columns discussing different ways to engage with the arts for publication in the Alpena News Paper.
Youth Career Advisor
Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium
- Provide career focused education for youth and young adults who are experiencing barriers to employment
- Collaborate with community schools and business partners to develop programming and deliver career-prep and -explorative resources to local youth
and young adults
- Advocate on behalf of youth and young adults while promoting participant-led discussion and solutions
- Manage a caseload of several individuals and provide individualized services based on each participant’s unique needs and circumstances
- Follow rigorous processes and policies to maintain compliancy with local, state and federal funding
RTI Specialist
AMA Educational School District
- Collaborate with teachers and other staff within the schools to develop educational plans uniquely catered to each individual on the case load
- Provide consistent and researched reading intervention programs to students in Kindergarten through Third Grade
- Monitor and document progress of each student to provide accurate impact assessments
Gallery Associate
Art in the Loft
- Communicate with local artists and coordinate the exhibition of their pieces within an art gallery in NorthEast Michigan
- Arrange the gallery floor to best suit events occurring within the space and facilitate a variety of community activities
- Discuss, sell and package art pieces of various mediums and advocate on behalf of artists and their commission prices
Co-Founder/-Facilitator
the Poetics Lab
- Network with community partners to promote the organization's mission and raise funds for community programming
- Organize finances and develop budgets for individual and year-long programs
- Write grants and funding requests catered to identity workshops and arts-based education opportunities
- Facilitate community poetry workshops centered on identity construction and performance while also providing the necessary foundation of skills to write a poem
- Work effectively with a team to create, promote and facilitate a start-up organization and adapt plans according to the needs of that organization
- Emcee public and virtual events in a welcoming and inclusive fashion
Educational Experience and Training
October, 2023 - June 2025
September, 2015 - May, 2019
Central Michigan University
Non-Profit Management & Grant Writing
Certificate Course
University of Michigan
Linguistics
Bachelor of Arts
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Linguistic Development, Oppression and Empowerment
- Understand the cognitive development and evolution of language within society and the individual while recognizing how they affect cultural biases and perpetuate oppressive powers
- Research the power of language in the processes of identity construction, world-building and minority empowerment
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Positive Representation Within Media
- Facilitate constructive conversations surrounding representations of minority identities within the media, including various mediums of literature, art and film
- Recognize both harmful stereotypes and positive representations present in media and critically analyze how medium, genre and form impact how audience members take in and perceive the information
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training
- Reflect on and discuss biases--both internalized and societal--and their effect on how we as individuals and as a community engage with one another
- Unpack and communicate ideas of privilege and oppression while also showcasing examples of community empowerment
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Bystander Intervention Training
- Recognize and intervene during harmful situations in which one is participating as a bystander
- Understand the impact of microaggressions while taking responsibility of the observed situation and checking in with the effected individual(s) afterwards
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Community Engagement Training
- Facilitate engaging social and educational activities within residential and academic settings
- Assess the specific needs of a community to better provide unique social and educational opportunities that best support those needs
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Social and Psychological Development
- Work with developing individuals to best curate appropriate educational and social opportunities
- Understand the effects of complex societal and cultural pressures and expectations on a developing individual's perception of community, comfort and safety
Community Engagement
Ongoing
November, 2022 - Present
Semi-Regularly
April 3rd, 2026
November, 2022
June, 2021 - January 2022
August 3rd, 2021
January, 2019 - March 2020
the Community Chapbook Release the Poetics Lab
Virtual/In-Person Open-Mic Night
August 7th, 2021
August 20th, 2022
August 18th, 2023
November 30th, 2024
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Summer Poetry Workshop Series the Poetics Lab
Virtual/In-Person Poetry Workshop and Community Reading
June 7th-12th, 2021
June 6th-11th, 2022
June 12th-17th, 2023
June 24th-29th, 2024
June 23rd-28th, 2025
Monthly Open Mics the Poetics Lab
Virtual/In-Person Themed Open Mic Nights
Talk Show Guest Talk of the Town
WBKB - TV, Alpena, MI
English Alumni Panel Speaker Art in the Loft/the Poetics Lab
University of Michigan Alumni Panel -- English Department
Banned Book Club
Community Discussion on Banned Books
Flamer by Mike Curato
Alpena Board of Education
LGBTQIA+ Advocacy
APS BOE Town Hall
LGBTQIA+ Advocacy
Production Assistant & Puppeteer
FestiFools Studio and Celebration