Daily Inspiration: Meet Kevin Lovelace

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Lovelace.

Hi Kevin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I first discovered my love of film while working at the local cinema 8 in high school. Fast forward a few years, and I got my first film festival job working seasonally in the Print Traffic department at the Chicago International Film Festival. Since then, I have been honored to perform at multiple film festivals and now understand how to create successful festivals for thousands of attendees. In 2016, I became the first Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Lesbian & Gay Film Society. To grow and diversify our audience, I started the Pittsburgh Underground Film Festival (PUFF), which contained movies that were 85% made by women and POC. During COVID-19, I moved back to my hometown to care for my parents. I created Twisted Arts because Oklahoma last had a 2SLGBTQ+ film festival nearly a decade ago. In three years, I built a board of directors and a community of donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors. This year, we hired 28 local two-spirit and LGBTQ+ artists, collaborated with 15 local nonprofits, and hosted four festivals, including Oklahoma’s first “Two-Spirit Fest.”

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Starting a nonprofit is a challenging task! For the first couple of years, I had to do most of the work, including learning how to make movie trailers using After Effects, meeting with donors, working with film distributors, and promoting the festival. Twisted Arts began to get noticed, and we now have a fantastic community of supporters and an audience of dedicated cinephiles.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Among my most gratifying accomplishments is the mentoring of individuals within Tulsa’s queer and arts communities, teaching them how to establish nonprofit entities and equipping them with the skills necessary to procure financial resources.

We’d love to hear about your fond memories from growing up.
My favorite childhood memory is finding new movies that were hard to find, especially pre-internet. I’ll never forget when I first saw Hal Ashby’s “Harold and Maude” and Todd Hayne’s banned movie “The Karen Carpenter Story.” Both films are entirely different from each other and are groundbreaking in their dark sense of humor.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.twistedfest.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twistedartstulsa
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TwistedArtsTulsa

Image Credits
Josh New Photography