“In a world that asks us to focus on the things that can separate us, A Peace of My Mind invites us to explore the common humanity that connects us.” 

– John Noltner, founder, A Peace of My Mind

A Peace of My Mind is a multimedia arts project that uses portraits and personal stories to bridge divides and build community. Through exhibits, workshops, lectures, and public studios, A Peace of My Mind leads transformative experiences that help a polarized world rediscover the common humanity that connects us.

John Noltner – Founder and Executive Director

John is an award-winning author and photographer who has worked on five continents, gathering stories of human courage, grace, and resilience. He has produced projects for national magazines, Fortune 500 companies, and non-profit organizations. In 2008, frustrated with the quality of our national dialogue, and all the things that ask us to focus what divides us, he wondered if he could use his storytelling and art to rediscover what connects us.

A gifted storyteller, his work is accessible and engaging, creating a space where others can be seen, heard, and valued. A Peace of My Mind reflects John’s belief that storytelling and art can help individuals, organizations and communities articulate their deepest values and encourage action toward building community connections and positive change.

When he is not on the road for work, John travels for fun with his family and their cocker spaniel, Road Trip. Together, they care also for an 80-acre Christmas tree farm, connecting with the land while observing the seasons and years unfold. More of his photography can he found here: John Noltner Photography

Nick Theisen – Project Coordinator

Nick provides programming and logistics support- assisting with visioning, planning, organizing, and orchestrating engagements around the country. He is responsible for outreach and relationship development, program delivery, as well as content and new program development.

On the more-than-logistics side of things he works with the languages of story and poetry in service to reconnecting with our common humanity, building trust, and weaving community. He partners with communities in exploring and articulating their wider story of belonging, accompanying them in gaining a more rooted and expansive sense of vision through tending spaces that remind us of the participatory nature of being human.

Nick is also a poet whose work is rooted in themes of wilderness, interbeing, and the ecological soul. Tracing the threads between self, other, and landscape, he sees his work as a living engagement with the forest in both its literal and metaphorical senses- following the ancient and wild footprints of the mythopoetic tradition, mapmaking with the compass of curiosity, and pilgriming on a journey of tracking myth and mystery. His poetic work can be found here: Woodland Hearth.

What others are saying:

“A Peace of My Mind will tug at your heart and your sense of humanity. It’s difficult to digest this work and remain indifferent.” –Terri Lee Freeman, President, National Civil Rights Museum

“John Noltner takes us on a unique journey filled with revelations of courage and commitment, resilience and hope. It is a beautiful journey that speaks to our innermost being. It touches us in a way that allows us to see the world from a different perspective. Perhaps it will inspire us to become peacemakers.” –Ela Gandhi, South African peace activist and granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi

“A Peace of My Mind speaks the truth we are yearning to hear. In a country where fear of the “other” is epidemic, John Noltner’s collection offers ample common ground to bring us together as a human family.” –Marie Dennis, Co-president, Pax Christi International

“I would recommend this work to anyone who wants to experience the diversity of human beings and the universality of the human condition.” –Jim Wallis, New York Times bestselling author of America’s Original Sin, Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America, president of Sojourners, and editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine

“These are stories of awakening the self, journeys of anguish, retribution and forgiveness, drive, accomplishment and purpose. Read slowly, cherish each story, listen deeply to shared words, and hold sacred the lessons offered.” –Marilyn Turkovich, Director, Charter for Compassion International

“A Peace of My Mind is one of the best examples of how stories can heal. Through these portraits and testimonies we can see through the eyes of others, and so reach across rifts of class, creed and race.”–Marina Cantacuzino, Founder The Forgiveness Project

“Noltner has a gift for discovering and sharing stories that inspire people of all ages to become their best selves.” –Jan Selby, Director, BEYOND THE DIVIDE, Quiet Island Films

“Noltner’s beautiful photographs surround us with such a great cloud of witnesses for peace, that we can see ourselves and our neighbors in them too, as real people building bridges together.” – Rev. Nancy Victorin-Vangerud, Director of the Wesley Center for Spirituality, Service, and Social Justice at Hamline University

Our board of directors:

Sandra Anderson retired as a Senior Vice President/Strategic Business Manager of Wells Fargo Bank, and the founder and director of Wells Fargo Elder Services. She has 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, 28 of them with the bank. She has a BA from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Since retirement she has served on several non-profit boards. Sandra currently serves as vice-chair of A Peace Of My Mind, is a director of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church Foundation and on the grant committees of two private foundation advisory boards. Sandra is married, has grown children and three grandchildren. Her hobbies are reading, cooking, and travel. Sandra and her husband enjoy time at their lake home in northern Minnesota and at their primary residence on the Mississippi River.

Paul Steen serves as APOMM’s treasurer.  Paul is a retired business development and marketing executive, having worked in the high tech industry with Microsoft, 3M/HighJump Software, and Spanlink Communications.  He also has extensive nonprofit financial management and consulting experience, having served as treasurer for LPGM and Bethlehem Lutheran Church as well as interim business manager at Holden Village.  He and his wife, Melissa, split time between Hopkins, MN and Santa Rosa, CA; and have 2 children Maya and Bennett.  They sing in the Sonoma Bach choir, and enjoy hiking, cooking, and gardening.

Pastor Hierald Osorto has a passion for stories hidden out of sight, which drives him to work collaboratively and creatively to bring those stories to light. Since 2021, he has served as the Lead Pastor of St. Paul’s–San Pablo Lutheran Church, a bilingual, majority-immigrant, Reconciling in Christ congregation in the heart of south Minneapolis. He is also active in his local community serving on multiple community boards including the Banyan Community Center and the Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts. Prior to moving to Minneapolis, Pastor Osorto served at Ithaca College, where he nurtured a vision of interfaith collaboration and inclusive community in two roles: as the Executive Director for Student Equity & Belonging and the
founding Director of Religious & Spiritual Life. Pastor Osorto is the child of Salvadoran refugees who holds degrees from Messiah College and Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, as well as a Certificate of Study in Theology and Decolonization from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil. He and his husband, who is a Presbyterian minister, reside in the quirky Powderhorn neighborhood of south Minneapolis, where they enjoy cinnamon rolls at the May Day Café.

Karen Noltner is an Associate Human Resources Business Partner for Second Harvest Heartland, the second largest food bank in the nation. She serves at A Peace of My Mind’s secretary. With a career focused on supporting individuals and building healthy, inclusive workplaces, Karen brings a people-centered perspective to everything she does. Her connection to A Peace of My Mind grew from both personal and professional alignment with the organization’s mission. While traveling and living in a van, Karen experienced firsthand the power of slowing down, listening deeply, and engaging in meaningful conversations with people from all walks of life. This journey strengthened her belief in the importance of understanding, dignity, and shared humanity. Her path reflects a commitment to connection—whether in the workplace, on the open road, or within community spaces where stories are honored and shared.

Mike Dobies is the Executive Creative Director and Partner at DKY marketing agency. With over three decades of experience driving creative strategy and campaigns, Mike now leads the creative team at DKY. He has worked on award-winning campaigns for large multi-national corporations to small local businesses in diverse industries. As a DKY Partner, Mike shares responsibility for overall agency performance including financial position, relationship management and staff development. Mike earned a B.A. in Speech/Communications from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Theological Studies from Bethel Seminary. Mike is an avid movie buff, basketball junkie, lover of theology, and is currently reading definitive biographies of U.S. presidents (in chronological order). Years ago he wanted to get a new TV for the family at Christmas. They ended up with a poodle. Huge cost difference. Just ask. He’s kept a spreadsheet on the true cost of owning a dog.