Barbara Nicolosi is award-winning writer, speaker, professor and producer, Dr. Barbara Nicolosi has spoken at hundreds of conferences, universities, and churches.  She is the featured host on the Mystagogy podcast. She has also given retreats for parish ministers. With 23 years of experience working in Hollywood as a writer and producer, Dr. Nicolosi speaks about the intersection of faith and culture, the role of art and beauty in the Church and world, and how to engage the secular mainstream with Gospel themes.  She is a Great Books professor and former member of a religious community, speaking regularly on the topics of literature and philosophy the importance of friendship, various aspects of prayer and spirituality, the history and social importance of story and art, and how the Church can more effectively find a voice in the marketplace of ideas.  

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Dr. Nicolosi is founder of the Write Spirit creative writing program of the Catholic Art Institute. A member of the Writers Guild of America-West she has written screenplays for several Hollywood production companies including Fatima (2020), directed by Marco Pontecorvo and starring Harvey Keitel and Sonia Braga.  

Barbara has a doctorate in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University in the UK, a Masters in Film & Television from Northwestern University, and a B.A. from the Great Books program at Magdalen College.  She has taught at the university level for twenty years. She has been a script analyst, production company executive, and consultant on scores of entertainment projects including the features The Passion of the Christ and TV shows Joan of Arcadia (CBS) and Saving Grace (TNT).   

Barbara has delivered hundreds of addresses all over the world including at the Vatican and for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

Barbara has been a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and a reader for the Humanitas Prize which has been called the Pulitzer of screenwriting.  For more, visit https://mystagogy.net/

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Fr. Andrew Barth IVE grew up in the California Bay Area. Little by little, hiking with his father in the oak-studded hills of the South Bay awakened his love of visual beauty, and his adolescent years saw the first real kindling of his faith as he attended Mass and confirmation preparation at the parish of Our Lady of Peace in Santa Clara, where he also met the priests and sisters of the Institute of the Incarnate Word.

He attended John Paul the Great Catholic University, where he earned his bachelor of science in communications with an emphasis in game development in 2015. At the same time, he studied art foundations under Ron and Vanessa Lemen at Park Blvd Studio in San Diego. After a brief and clarifying stint of freelancing in the entertainment industry, he entered the Institute of the Incarnate Word in 2016.

He received his formation for religious life and priestly ministry at the Fulton Sheen House of Formation in Chillum, Maryland. During formation, he was encouraged to continue painting and to immerse himself in the Church’s rich treasury of liturgical art. Slowly, his predilection for Bougereau was purified into a preference for Guercino, and he became a trifle snobbish in his opinions about the virtues of lead white.

He made his perpetual vows in 2024, and was ordained to the priesthood on February 7th, 2026. He is currently stationed at Our Lady of Peace in Santa Clara, the same church that planted the seeds of his faith and his vocation. Most of his time is spent writing homilies and hearing confessions, but he occasionally finds a moment to chip away at sacred art projects and take his pochade box out to the golden regions of the Santa Clara valley.

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Kathleen Carr is the President and Founder of the Catholic Art Institute. She a classically trained painter, multimedia designer and graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. In academia, Ms. Carr served as Deputy Chair and Professor of Design and Illustration at the Corcoran College of Art & Design in Washington DC.

Her paintings have been recognized by the National Portrait Gallery UK, The National Portrait Society, and The Art Renewal Center, The Salmagundi Club, RGD, Gallery, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, and the Butler Museum of American Art, among others.

Ms. Carr has designed for the National Geographic Society, the Washington Post, HZDG Design Group serving a variety of clients including: American Express (Red), AT&T, Beefeater Gin, BP,  Chase Sapphire, Chrysler, Exxon, Fetner Real Estate, Ford, General Mills, Glaxo Smith Kline, Honda, IBM, Kelloggs, KIA, The Marriott Corporation, Mastercard, McDonalds, Mercedes Benz, Merck, Microsoft, Mini Cooper, Porsche, Rolex,  Siemens, Toyota, The Washington Capitals, VRBO and many more.

Her design work has been featured in Communication Arts, Apple.com, Quicktime & Dynamic Graphics.

Portfolio: CarrFineArt.com

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Angela Kuhlmann is a Catholic Life Coach who helps individuals grow in self-awareness and live from the truth of how God uniquely created them. She trained with the Catholic cohort at the Professional Christian Coaching Institute, is certified in CliftonStrengths Coaching through the Human Formation Coalition, and completed Fulfillment Story Coaching training with Dr. Joshua Miller at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Through her coaching and speaking, she helps others discover their gifts, untangle obstacles, and take faithful steps forward in fully living their personal vocation.

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Zena Dell Lowe has worked professionally in the entertainment industry for over 20 years as a screenwriter, producer, actress, and story consultant. In 2020, Zena launched her podcast, The Storyteller’s Mission with Zena Dell Lowe, which has become a popular show among Christian artists all over the world, now available to watch on YouTube. The Storyteller’s Mission focuses not just on craft, but on how to write great stories that reflect a true, biblical moral worldview and have a chance to compete in the marketplace of ideas. Driven by a passion to equip artists of all levels to achieve excellence at their craft, Zena regularly teaches advanced classes on writing as an adjunct professor, at writers conferences all across the country, and through her online platform.