The Minnesota Senior Federation welcomes Marianne Zerbe, Americorps* Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) member. Zerbe will serve full time for one year with the Federation’s health programs education and outreach department, building our presence throughout the South Central Region.

Zerbe’s undergraduate degree is in studio arts. For ten years, Zerbe worked as a visual artist amassing a body of work in two mediums. Her linoleum cuts of farm animals are whimsical and appealing to all ages. The second body of work relates to women’s issues and has grown into a traveling show addressing issues of domestic violence, the inner goddess and ecology.

Zerbe recently completed a master’s degree in women and cultural change, with an emphasis on nonviolence, spirituality and feminism. Because of her concentration in cultural change and social justice, she volunteered to serve the interests of the senior population.

Zerbe lives on an organic beef farm outside of Houston, Minn., with husband John Jordan (a national speaker on disability rights) and brother/partner Ralph and his wife Drue. She has two grown children: Bridgit who works for the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault and is married to writer Frank Bures; and Patrick, a man with autism and other disabilities. Zerbe has a foster daughter, Tali, who is currently working on her degree in theater in Massachusetts.

Zerbe is an avid reader of cultural and current events, women’s issues and bloody, scary crime novels. She has traveled extensively in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Other interests include yoga, gardening and a Norwegian stitchery called Hardanger.

For information on the VISTA program, call Angie Ritter at 651/783-5019 or 877/645-0261 ext. 5019.