Lars is an artist, writer, educator and entrepreneur with a passion for arts-driven economic development. Lars has created and led arts, coworking and makerspaces in Washington, DC and Vermont as well as the state’s Backpacker Guide to creativity. In the fall of 2017, with a grant from the Democracy Fund, Lars traveled 14,000 miles around the country interviewing Americans about the ways our democratic aspirations are represented in the arts.

Prior to joining the Artisan’s Asylum, Lars served as Director of Vermont’s Office of the Creative Economy, Innovation Prize Advisor to the US Agency for International Development, lead designer and head of MIT’s Global Challenge, and director of AmericaSpeaks’ Democracy Lab for innovation and research. Lars was a founding faculty member of the Booker T. Washington Public Charter School for Technical Arts in Washington, DC where he was recognized for excellence in learning design for his combined DC History and Urban Studies curriculum.

In his down time Lars is a collage and mixed media artist, producing work for theater, dance, and large-scale installation. He has been working over the last fifteen years to develop the Global Peace Tiles Project in partnership with communities around the world. An avid reader, walker of woods, and board game enthusiast, Lars serves on the board of AYWA International and is mentor for the Mentor Capital Network.

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