The Festival Team:

​Photo Credit: Peter Hellberg

​Photo Credit: Peter Hellberg

  • Simonson, a Wisconsin native and part-time Door County resident, has a rich and varied career, including writing, directing and acting in Broadway plays, and directing for opera, film and television. He has been nominated for a Tony, an Emmy and an Oscar, winning the Oscar for his documentary film “A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin.” He is an ensemble member of the renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago and has developed television shows for HBO, STARZ, USA, FX, History Channel and NatGeo networks.

  • Alan Kopischke is an actor and arts consultant with a long career in new play development and producing collaborative arts events. As an actor, he won a Dramalogue Award and performed with the American Conservatory Theatre, Steppenwolf, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Organic, Peninsula Players and Victory Gardens, in addition to film and television appearances including “Walker, Texas Ranger.” He has produced play reading series for American Conservatory Theatre and Peninsula Players and produced The Big Read Door County. Alan is an Intimacy Choreographer and an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay where he directs and teaches acting.

  • Robert Simonson writes about cocktails, spirits, bars and bartenders for The New York Times. He is the author of the books “The Old-Fashioned: The Story of the World’s First Classic Cocktail” and “A Proper Drink,” the first-ever history of the cocktail renaissance, and “Three-Ingredient Cocktails,” which was nominated for a 2018 James Beard Award. He was a major contributor to “The Essential New York Times Book of Cocktails.” His writing have appeared in Imbibe, Whiskey Advocate, Eater, Food & Wine, Saveur, Lucky Peach and Punch, where he is a contributing editor. His line of custom Old-Fashioned glass was recently released by Cocktail Kingdom. He lives in Brooklyn. 

  • Art Kopischke is a multimedia theatre artist who works interdisciplinarily in theatre, drag, performance art, comedy, and interactive media installation. Their work has been presented at the Public Theater, Abrons Arts Center, HERE Arts, the Brick Theater, the Flea, 3 Dollar Bill, Chaos Computer, Trans Pecos, ApartmentPARTY, and locally at Third Avenue Playhouse, Peninsula Players, the Door Community Auditorium, and World Premiere Wisconsin. 

    A graduate of Bard College and Brooklyn College, Art now works as the Audio Video Supervisor at the Brown Arts Institute at Brown University.

  • Dan is a professional theater artist living in Door County and works as an actor, fight director, stage manager, and costume designer. He has performed these jobs and more for theater companies around the Midwest including: Third Avenue PlayWorks, Peninsula Players, Northern Sky Theatre, Door Shakespeare, First Folio Theatre, Artists’ Ensemble, Theatre at the Center, Children’s Theatre Madison, Madison Ballet, Chicago Kids Company, and the Goodman Theatre. Dan has taught stage combat and worked at a variety of sanctioned workshops through the Society of American Fight Directors and Dueling Arts International. He has choreographed and directed stage violence for all four professional theaters in Door County and taught/assisted at several schools across the country including: UW-Green Bay, Pace University, and Adelphi University. Dan received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama from UW-Stevens Point and his Master of Arts degree in Acting from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow.

Our DKAF Board Members:

  • Teresa Aportela Sergott is a graduate of Villanova University with a BA in Religious Studies and a minor in Theatre. She also holds an MA from UW-Parkside in Professional Communications with an emphasis in People Operations and is certified in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. She is a Fractional Operations Director for remote-first digital companies and small business consultant. Teresa has acted in the NE Wisconsin area with local companies such as Theatre Z and Play-by-Play Theatre. A first-generation Cuban-American, she is a live theatre enthusiast and performing arts advocate in Green Bay, WI.

  • Joseph Kaftan graduated from UW Madison, studied graphic design at the American University in Washington DC. He designed booked and CD covers. He is currently a mosaic artist represented by many fine galleries through the country including Edgewood Orchard Galleries. Joseph produced the tribute to Pat MacDonald CD series, as well as a concert of the same 70 plus artists. Joseph teaches workshops nationally, including The Miller Art Museum. Joseph is a part time kayak instructor and lives half his time in Seattle WA.

  • Tom McKenzie is a 1995 graduate of Lawrence University where he majored in English. After graduating Lawrence University, Tom moved to Door County, where he and David Eliot co-founded the Peninsula Pulse newspaper. Tom lived in Los Angeles for over 20-years where he cultivated and stewarded public-private partnerships to benefit the Los Angeles Arts Education Collective, an initiative of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. He also worked for a variety of LA-based arts nonprofits and for the California Association of Professional Employees MEBA AFL-CIO. He now serves as the Director at Björklunden, Lawrence University’s north campus. In addition, he volunteers in leadership roles for community groups such as the Door County Climate Change Coalition, the Door Kinetic Art Festival and the Peninsula Arts and Humanities Alliance. Tom is a network weaver, capacity builder, and fundraiser who translates these qualities into a leadership style rooted in reverence, collaboration, and creativity.

  • With a diverse background spanning from event management to digital marketing, Jess is an event producer with nearly 20 years of experience activating brands through engagement. Prior to starting her own marketing and communications business, she served as the event director and property manager at the Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion, where she played a pivotal role in launching and managing the Kress Pavilion, fostering over 700 community events. She spent most of her early career in brand activation based in Portland, Oregon. There she worked with the city's cornerstone music festival, MusicFestNorthwest, launched the beloved Eat Mobile food cart festival, and brought brands to life with Portland Monthly, and Willamette Week.

  • Artist Stephanie Trenchard has a BFA from Illinois State University. Since 1998 she and her husband, artist Jeremy Popelka, have owned and operated Popelka Trenchard Glass, a hot glass studio in Sturgeon Bay’s Creative District. They also own SŌMI Gallery, a contemporary art gallery that exhibits the work of a select few local artists. Trenchard is known for her cast glass sculpture, abstract oil painting and poetry. In addition to many private collections, her work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Wisconsin Art and the Warehouse Museum. She has been published in The Write Launch, Black Fox Literary Magazine, and other fine publications. She taught glass art at Corning School of Glass (New York), Bangkok Glass (Thailand), Pratt (Seattle) and the Richter School (Amsterdam). Prior to moving to Door County to start their glass studio, Trenchard worked for twelve years as a textile and product designer in San Francisco. Today, in addition to the Door Kinetic Art Festival, she serves on the Board of Directors of Peninsula School of Art and the Steel Bridge Creative Foundation; she also is a member of the Sturgeon Bay Local Arts Board.