Festival Curators

Michael Judge is freelance journalist, poet, and contributing editor at The Dallas Morning News. A former arts and culture writer for The Wall Street Journal, he is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In a career spanning three decades and two continents, his editorials, essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Japan Times, NPR.org, and Smithsonian magazine, among other publications. His poetry has appeared in The Literary Review, The Iowa Review, The Southern Review, Sycamore Review and Poet Lore, among other magazines and journals.

Steven Erickson has created a large and diverse body of work over the last 40 years as a practicing artist. Always interested in exploring new ideas, he has worked in a variety of styles from realism to pure abstraction. His work is held in many public and private collections including The First Banks of Minneapolis, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, The University of Iowa College of Business, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and The University of Iowa College of Law. Over the past 15 years he has worked as the exhibition designer for the Stanley Museum of Art. Over the past 5 years he has been involved in the design and planning of the Stanley’s new museum building which will open in September of 2022. He lives with his wife and child in Iowa City.

Katrina McPherson is an award-winning artist, director, and scholar whose research and practice has contributed to the evolution of screendance for over 30 years. Since the 1990s, Katrina has been awarded commissions and received funding to make work, including single screen, installation, and interactive productions. A much sought-after lecturer, workshop facilitator and mentor, Katrina teaches across the globe, most recently also enjoying the new concepts and potential offered by the on-line environment. She is the author of the workbook "Making Video Dance - a step-by-step guide to creating dance for the screen.”, the 2nd edition of which was published by Routledge in 2019. 

Daniel Fine is an artist, technologist, and educator working in immersive, interactive digital/physical environments. He combines traditional forms of storytelling with new technologies in live performances to engage the imaginations and hearts of a twenty-first century audience. Daniel is an Assistant Professor of Digital Media in Performance, with a joint-appointment in Theatre Arts and Dance, and a core faculty of the Public Digital Arts Cluster at the University of Iowa. He is the co-author of Digital Media, Projection Design & Technology for Theatre. Daniel holds an MFA in interdisciplinary digital media for performance from Arizona State University. 

Kevin Kelley has been a documentary filmmaker for over three decades.  His major works as a documentary producer with University of Iowa received: Mid-America EMMY Awards© (1995, 2017) for The Search for Meaning: The American Family (1995) and Jackson Pollock’s Mural: Story of a Modern Masterpiece (2017) as well as CINE Golden Eagle Awards, and New York Festivals World Medals.  National and international screenings of his most recent work include film festivals and museums in: Los Angeles, New York, Montreal, London, Spain, Germany, Venice, Florence, Paris, Perth and Sydney.  Kelley’s documentaries have aired on HBO, PBS ABC, CBS, and ESPN as well as qualifying in 2001 for the Short Documentary Category for the Academy Awards©.  In major newspapers, Kelley’s works were reviewed as “Comprehensive, straight-ahead and unsentimental."  (The Los Angeles Times) and “a wonderful heartwarming story about a forgotten individual” (Chicago Tribune Magazine) As an Independent Filmmaker, Kelley’s, most recent work Stout Hearted: George Stout and the Guardians of Art has been screened at 23? Film festivals across the globe and has aired on PBS.  

Marie Wilkes has both an MFA (93) in Dance and an M Ed (08) from the University of Iowa. For sixteen years Wilkes, Founder and Director Kahraman Near East Dance Ensemble (501c3), produced multiple events presented in Iowa City, and educational programs which toured throughout schools and small arts organizations in Iowa, the U.S., and Canada. To support the development of these programs, Wilkes received grants from: the Iowa Arts Council, Iowa Humanities, and the UI 2005 Year of Arts and Humanities Grant. Her company was on the Artist Roster for both the Iowa Arts Council, and Arts Midwest. In filmmaking, Wilkes received an Emmy honor for her work as an assistant to the director of Jackson Pollock’ Mural: Story of a Modern Masterpiece documentary.  As Producer of Stout Hearted: George Stout and the Guardians of Art, her work has garnered a Mid America Emmy nomination, three awards, and was screened at twenty-three Film Festivals globally, as well as airing on PBS.  On NMMA’s current film Standing Strong: Elizabeth Catlett, Wilkes will continue her role as Producer through project management, grant writing and research for NMMA.

Eloy Barragan is Associate Professor at the University of Iowa, Choreographer, Filmmaker, Director: International Iowa ScreenDance Festival, CoDirector: Iowa Dance Festival. Recipient of the choreographers’ fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Boise Arts Council, Lifetime Career Fellowship: Idaho Commission of the Arts. 2017 Artist Project Grant - Iowa Arts Council. Eloy’s choreography and films have been presented in Mexico, US, Cuba, Finland, France, Panamá, China and Russia. Performed with Joffrey II, Washington Ballet, Compañía Nacional de Danza México, Ballet Royal de Wallonie, Mainz Stattheater, Eugene Ballet and Ballet Idaho."