Heartland Film Festival® is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2006 Festival poster design competition is Kyle Ragsdale of Indianapolis. Ragsdale’s watercolor piece, “Magical Movies,” will be unveiled along with this year’s Festival film and event lineup on September 7.

“Heartland Film Festival would like to thank the many artists who submitted work into this year’s competition,” said Jeffrey L. Sparks, president of Heartland Film Festival. “There were many creative and beautiful pieces to choose from which made our decision a tough one. After viewing all of the entries, we felt that Kyle’s piece best embraced what Heartland is about and how movies can bring people together.”

“I know how much a great story can capture hearts and imaginations. I wanted my piece to show the way the Heartland Film Festival brings couples and families together,” said Ragsdale. “My work is often about building community and Heartland is a great example. I am very thankful for this honor.”

Heartland will award Ragsdale with a $1,500 cash prize. His design will appear on a commemorative 15th anniversary poster that will be distributed to filmmakers, special guests and sponsors of the 2006 Heartland Film Festival. Heartland also may use the posters for promotional purposes and offer them for sale with proceeds benefiting the non-profit Festival.

Heartland invited artists and students to submit original works of art visually depicting the Festival’s mission “to recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life.” The winning entry was selected by Heartland staff and was evaluated based on the overall impact of design, artistic merit, creativity and the appropriateness of the subject matter as it relates to Heartland Film Festival.

Artist Kyle Ragsdale grew up in Texas and New Mexico and witnessed at a young age a mix of vibrant cultures and large wild spaces. After earning a BFA at Baylor University and an MFA at Southern Methodist University, Ragsdale began painting full time, working periodically as a decorative painter and making fine art. He also has designed stage sets and curated exhibits in Texas and Indiana.


Ragsdale currently works in a studio at the Harrison Center for the Arts. Recent honors include a prize at Masterpiece in a Day, final round at Art vs. Art, a fellowship to the Vermont Studio Center, arts council downtown mural project and the poster for Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s 25th anniversary Symphony on the Prairie summer series.

Heartland will celebrate 15 years of honoring Truly Moving Pictures during the annual Festival, October 19-27, 2006 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Visit www.HeartlandFilmFestival.org to learn more about Heartland and this year’s anniversary celebration.

Heartland Film Festival, a non-profit organization, was established in 1991 to recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life. Each October, Heartland screens Truly Moving PicturesSM from around the world and presents cash prizes and Crystal Heart Awards to the Festival’s top entries. In 2006, Heartland will increase its total prize money to $200,000. This includes doubling its Grand Prize for Best Dramatic Feature to $100,000 and two new awards: a $25,000 cash prize for Best Documentary Feature and a $10,000 cash prize for Best Short Film. The remaining $65,000 will be shared among the 2006 Crystal Heart and Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Award winners. The Crystal Heart Award cash prizes are made possible by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. and the Max Simon Charitable Foundation. Including the 2006 prize money, Heartland will have awarded more than $1.6 million in 15 years to support filmmakers in their quest to create Truly Moving Pictures.