Nicole Gruter was born to Dutch immigrants in Mankato, Minnesota. Studying theatre, performance art and women’s studies at the University of Madison, Wisconsin, she graduated with her B.A. in 1994. In the years following, Gruter pursued performance art, sound installation, musical performance and the glories of rock and roll by presenting work guerilla style, in traditional spaces, and in alternative establishments, all the while working as bartender and promoter in rock clubs. She received her Master of Fine Arts in 2009, again in Madison, with an emphasis on performance art and sound recordings.

Performing in unexpected and varying environments, much of Gruter’s work relies upon interactive exchanges with the public, either through the act of handouts, food consumption, gathering of information, or the exchanging of stories. Her work often combines humor with political and personal issues. Gruter’s varied subject matters range in topic from obligation, hoarding and materialism to immigration, operatic arias and Dutch buttercake. Her stage persona, Wilhelmina Baker, concentrates on manipulating established genres of music and theatre through modern commentary and the distortion of traditional formats. She resides in New Orleans, LA.