Erin Rehberg - Founder/Executive Director

Erin Rehberg, M.F.A. is an artist, educator, and arts advocate based in Elgin, Illinois. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Side Street Studio Arts, Founder and Executive Director of the Elgin Fringe Festival, and Founder and Artistic Director of Going Dutch, a festival celebrating female and nonbinary voices in the arts.

Prior to returning to her hometown in 2012, Erin founded and directed Core Project Chicago (2006–2016), a dance-based interdisciplinary performance collective that brought together artists from across disciplines to create innovative, collaborative works. She earned a B.A. in Journalism from Western Illinois University, studied dance and choreography at the American Dance Festival, and later served as the festival’s Director of Press and Marketing. She was also a founding member of Kim Nofsinger’s Shelter Repertory Dance Theatre.

As a choreographer, performer, and educator, Erin has taught and created work throughout the United States and internationally. Her choreography has been presented across the U.S. and in China, and she has created site-specific performances throughout Illinois. She has taught for organizations including Interlochen Center for the Arts, Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, Integrity School of Dance, Beverly Arts Center, and DancEd Dance Centre, and currently serves as Adjunct Faculty at Middle Tennessee State University.

Erin earned her M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media from Columbia College Chicago in 2009. Her honors include a Chicago Cultural Center DanceBridge Residency, residencies at The Studios of Key West, and the 2016 YWCA Elgin Margaret Hillis Award for the Arts.

Since returning to Elgin, Erin has helped lead and support numerous arts initiatives, including co-founding the Elgin Ties Dance Festival, serving on the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission (including as Chair), participating on the Hemmens Cultural Center Task Force, and contributing to Grand Victoria Foundation’s Elevating Equity grassroots grantmaking initiative. Through her work, she remains committed to expanding access to the arts and creating opportunities for artists and communities to thrive.