Current Roles
Katie Knutson is currently the Storyteller-in-Residence at Oak Grove Elementary School in Bloomington, MN thanks to a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB). She also works as a teaching artist for Stages Theatre Company and is a COMPAS Roster Artist. In addition to her work with children, Katie also trains adults to tell their stories more effectively, coaches public speakers, and works with non-profit organizations to tell their stories. She was recently presented with the ORACLE Award for Distinguished National Service and Leadership by the National Storytelling Network for her 20+ years of service to the storytelling community on the local, regional, and national levels. Consistent with that service, she is a part of the team organizing the 2028 National Storytelling Network Conference in Bloomington, MN. 

Katie's Story
Katie Knutson fell in love with Storytelling in high school when she competed in weekly Forensics (Speech) competitions. Although she performed in many different categories through the years, one category held a special place in her heart. "Storytelling was challenging and fun, but there was something else there that I didn't see in other categories. Since part of storytelling is connecting with your audience, we bonded with our fellow competitors. We coached each other, cheered for each other, and celebrated each person's accomplishments. This is what made storytelling stand out - as an Art." 

In college, Katie performed short-form improv with Comedy Sportz and studied Theatre, Child Development, and Calculus (you know, for fun). It wasn't until she was doing a residency for Climb Theatre in a small town in rural North Dakota that she met her first professional storyteller. "Wait, you do what? That's a job?" She has been going strong ever since.  

In Katie Knutson’s 32 years as a Storyteller and 22 years as Teaching Artist, she has delivered Arts-Integrated residencies, performances, and classes to well over 35,000 kids. She has been called an "enchanting and magical" performer, and an "articulate, fun and inviting" workshop leader. Katie spends her days integrating Storytelling and Drama with Math, Science, English Language Arts, Spanish, and Visual Art to bring required curriculum and standards to life in an active and engaging way, all while embedding Professional Development for classroom teachers. Katie has contributed to three books on storytelling and wrote/curated the New Voices column in Storytelling Magazine (see publications page). She leads Storytelling and Arts Integration workshops for adults, mentors new Storytellers and Teaching Artists, and is a COMPAS Roster Artist. She has been a Minnesota State DEVELOP Guest Trainer and has worked as a Teaching Artist for several Twin Cities theater companies including Stages, Stepping Stone, Park Square, Homeward Bound, Climb, and Children's Theatre. Katie has received four highly competitive Arts in Education grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board in partnership with Folwell School, Performing Arts Magnet; Oak Grove Elementary in Bloomington; Neill Elementary in Robbinsdale; and the Gifted and Talented Department of Bloomington Public Schools to be their Storyteller-in-Residence for at least one year each. She has also completed the ArtSage Arts in Aging Teaching Artist Training Program to work with older adults across the aging spectrum. 
 
This world traveler  has taught in both Spanish and English and presented workshops on the Art of Storytelling, Physical Character Choices, Theater Games, Vocal Warm-ups/Character Voices, and Arts Integration in Canada, Chile, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, and around the US. She was the first American featured at "Tales on the Island," the International Storytelling Festival in Sharjah (U.A.E.). 

Katie served for four years as the Executive Director of Northeast Storytelling (NEST), working with them to produce one of the highest-quality storytelling conferences in the country - Sharing the Fire. She served on the Boards of Directors of local, regional, and national storytelling organizations for 23 years, including as the Chair of the National Storytelling Network (NSN); Chair/Co-Chair of the Youth, Educators & Storytellers Alliance of NSN; the Chair of the NSN Conference Committee; and the President of Story Arts of Minnesota (formerly Northstar Storytelling League). She has also served on the Board of Northlands Storytelling Network and spent several years organizing Tellabration!(TM) and StoryFest in Minneapolis. During the pandemic, Knutson trained hundreds of storytellers to use Zoom and produced several conferences, including the NSN Connected Conference in 2020 - the largest and most diverse storytelling conference and festival in US History. It featured 262 storytellers from every region in the US and every continent on earth (except Antarctica). 

Katie lives in Bloomington, just outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband and two black cats. She is a proud mother and feels too young to already be an empty-nester. Outside of storytelling, she loves playing board games, gardening, eating good food, listening to podcasts, and being near oceans, lakes and rivers. You can often find Katie in her kitchen cooking or fermenting anything from kombucha to beet kvass to salsa. She drives an electric car and is politically active. Ask her about her pet worms!