Kayla Schiltgen is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist based in rural Two Harbors, Minnesota. She is a recipient of the McKnight Artist Fellowship for Choreography, Upstream Artist Fellowship, and multiple Minnesota State Arts Board and Arrowhead Regional Arts Council awards. She was a finalist for the Jerome Minnesota Film, Video & Digital Artist Development award and is recognized as a creative rural leader in the Upper Midwest by Springboard for the Arts.

Her work has been presented at the Walker Art Center; The Southern Theater, International Meeting on Video-Dance and Video-Performance (Spain & France); North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival; InShadow Screendance Festival (Portugal); Duluth Superior Film Festival; DanceBARN Screendance Festival; Wolf Tree Film Festival (MI); CANDY BOX Dance Festival; RAD Fest; The Lab at NorShor Theatre; Gibney (NY); and the Minnesota Fringe Festival, among others. Schiltgen recently completed a seven-stop tour of her evening-length work, is this magic?, across Minnesota.

Kayla holds a B.A. in Dance from University of Minnesota with continued education through mentorship with highly acclaimed screendance artist Katrina McPherson, courses in filmmaking, traditional craft, and improvisational movement.

Beyond her mostly solo practice, Kayla works collaboratively as a dancer and theater artist, performing, choreographing, directing, and designing for the stage. She carries the same dynamism and responsiveness that guides her original work into her interpretive work, and has collaborated on over 100 productions with artists across Minnesota.

artist statement


I blend dance and film to unsettle the conditioned autopilot of everyday life through intimately sharing my neurodivergent lived experience. Shaped by rural life and collaboration with nature, I create sensory-rich dance film and live performance encounters, often weaving forms, through practices of deep listening, noticing, and response. 

awards


2026 Minnesota State Arts Board Arts Experiences Award
2025 McKnight Artist Fellow for Choreography
2025 (December) Arrowhead Regional Art Council Artist Equity Award
2025 Minnesota State Arts Board Arts Experiences Award
2024 (December) Arrowhead Regional Art Council Artist Equity Award 
2024 Work selected for Walker Art Center Choreographers’ Evening (wednesday morning)
2024 Minnesota State Arts Board Support for Creative Individuals Award
2024 (January) Arrowhead Regional Art Council Artist Equity Grant Award
2023 Finalist Jerome Minnesota Film, Video & Digital Artist Development Award
2023 Upstream Minnesota Fellowship
2022 Minnesota State Arts Board Support for Creative Individuals Award
2022 Work selected for 50th Anniversary of Walker Art Center Choreographers’ Evening (object permanence)
2021 Work selected for Walker Art Center Choreographers’ Evening (recipe for something)
2020 Arrowhead Regional Art Council Artist Access Award
2019 Work selected for Walker Art Center Choreographers’ Evening (Come Go With Me)
2015 Sage Award - Best Performance for Lost Voices in Jazz: The Choreographers of the Minnesota Jazz Dance Company, Karla Grotting in collaboration with the Eclectic Edge Ensemble, Minnesota, Sage Awards for Dance ( Minneapolis, MN)
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. Kayla is a recipient of the Individual Artist Equity Grant, made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and culture heritage fund.
additional Photography by cc Boyle Photography, Adrian Steinbach, bill cameron, ASHLEY DEREN