Maria Freese is a poet and designer from Northern Minnesota attending the University of Wisconsin Madison, where she studies creative writing and is a scholar of the 15th cohort of First Wave. As a First Wave scholar she performed in We Remember: An Anthological Performance Exploring Time and Memory at the Line Breaks Hip Hop Theater Festival, with an original choreo-poem. Her costume design also appeared at Line Breaks in the original piece, ALTERCATION I by Jackson Neal. Maria also performed at UW Madison’s Passing the Mic Festival. In 2023, she further performed the original pieces Lakeside Confession and Secret Roommate, at the UW Madison Div. of the Arts Creative Arts Awards Ceremony, the First Wave Graduation Ceremony, and at the Hamel Music Center during Anita Sorenson Jazz Week. This summer Maria will be taking her art internationally, working with Pia in Kathmandu, Nepal.