WELCOME, KATIE!
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is excited to announce and welcome Katie G McGowan as Associate Director of Programs. An accomplished curator and intermedia artist, McGowan brings over 15 years of experience in arts programming, along with strong connections to the arts community in Michigan and beyond. She comes to the festival from ArtCorp., an art consulting firm that she co-founded in 2014 to build connections between artists, cultural entrepreneurs, and capital investment in Detroit and Brooklyn. Previously, she was Curator of Education and Public Engagement at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, where she built a diverse program of screenings, lectures, and exhibitions, and co-founded the museum’s DEPE Space Residency Program. McGowan holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Wayne State University, and an M.F.A. in Intermedia from the University of Iowa.
In her role at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Katie will strengthen connections between artists and the community by curating the festival programs, managing the Screening Committee for Films in Competition, and ensuring the selection process aligns with the national Film Festival Alliance’s Film Festival Code of Ethics currently in development.
When asked why she was excited to join the AAFF staff, Katie said, “As a lifelong fan of the AAFF, I’m honored to be on board. The Festival is an important cultural institution, whose history as a major platform for experimental work cannot be overstated. I’m excited to sustain the Festival’s steadfast commitment to the avant-garde while working to engage new audiences. I look forward to working with the AAFF’s vast network of filmmakers and helping to cultivate new voices.”
Executive Director Leslie Raymond is equally excited about Katie’s arrival: “Katie is an artist and curator with many projects under her belt and experience from experimental film to participatory practice and beyond. She is a team player, with a proven track record of building bridges that welcome new participants in arts activities. Katie will be an asset to the forward motion of our organization as we remain grounded in the traditions that have made the AAFF the incredible Festival that it is.”
