Friends, neighbors and colleagues, such as artist Joe Davis, remember Jeremey Paulson as someone passionate about his connection with himself, his friends, and the earth and spreading that knowledge to his community.
Davis first met Paulson at the Northside Artspace Lofts, where they both lived. “I first met him living there, then I started seeing him everywhere because he was a super busy man. He was really involved in the community, especially a community that’s centered in healing and wellness, teaching like martial arts, yoga and dance,” he said.
Paulson, 26, who grew up on the North Side and graduated from Southwest High School, died on July 3. He was at his favorite state park, Afton, in eastern Washington County, swimming in the St. Croix River, when he drowned. At least 13 others have drowned in the state so far this year, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
His colleagues at Hope Community, where he worked as an organizer for the agency’s farm program since December 2022, remembered his passion for food justice. “He experienced a lot of food insecurity himself, and he had often talked about how that shaped his interest in what we do here and wanting to be able to give back and share that with others,” said fellow farm program organizer and colleague Caroline Hall.
Friends and colleagues also recounted his ability to connect with youth. “He was so good with them, as far as commanding their attention and redirecting them without ever being threatening or aggressive. He was peaceful but assertive, strong but caring,” yoga instructor Chance York said of his time working with Paulson, where he taught youth yoga at the Northside YWCA.
York met Paulson before Paulson became a trained yoga instructor at a yoga class at My Brother’s Heal, a monthly gathering of Black men who work to get comfortable with their bodies. York told Paulson and his friend about the 200-hour yoga teacher training he facilitated through Peace in Practice, an organization he founded.
Soon enough, Paulson became a yoga teacher and founded a business with a friend, Wellness on the Block. This business organizes pay-what-you-can wellness retreats for Black, Indigenous, and people of color. He taught yoga and hip hop dance in a dance studio in the building he lived in.
Community organizer Abdulrahman Wako recounted getting into dance because of Paulson. “I was starting to get into dancing as a form of expression. And now I’m even more inspired to continue to do that for myself,” recounted Wako shortly after taking a yoga class in the Northside Artspace Lofts facilitated by Peace in Practice this past Wednesday.
Even when Paulson was not performing, he was helping support other performers. “He would be helping out, help organize, help setting up, tear down. He would help get the artists on the same page, even made sure we were getting paid. He was easy to be on the microphone, helping facilitate, talking to everybody,” recounted Davis.
Hall and friends remembered Paulson’s passion for mental health and how it related to what he ate. “He was just invested overall in his physical and mental wellness. He spent a lot of time in the gym, but also would go to Tao Foods or the co-op all the time to get fancy herbal supplements and tell us about this new recipe.
Credit: Photo by H. Jiahong Pan
“He would take a lot of stuff home from the gardens and cook with it. He was learning about plants,” Hall said.
Paulson also made it a point to spend time outdoors hiking, camping, swimming and farming. “Jeremey sought a very deep connection with nature. There’s sovereignty in being in that connection to nature and liberty, and I think that he really honored that connection,” farmer and friend Taya Schulte said.
“It’s like a push-back to our systems and institutions and how it’s not serving us, but instead is constricting us and making it harder for us to breathe, to express ourselves, to be joyful and to play,” Wako added.
His friends and colleagues expect to host private events honoring his life in the coming weeks. Artist Emily-Kate Niskey, who befriended Paulson through the yoga workshops he led in the building where they lived, is working on a piece honoring Paulson’s life that will be exhibited in the lobby of the Northside Artspace Lofts.
In addition to his sister, Andrea Kirk, Paulson is survived by his parents, siblings, half-siblings, chosen family, and close friends who fill the role of traditional family for someone when family members can’t. “He’s your friend for life once you get to know him,” Schulte said.
Kirk started a GoFundMe to pay for funeral arrangements and “other unexpected costs.” The GoFundMe can be accessed at gofund.me/63820fc6. Services have been held.