Executive Director

Julia@mainframestudios.org

Julia Franklin is the Executive Director of Mainframe Studios in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. She is an accomplished artist, leader, professor, and founder of multiple community arts programs, and Julia has more than two decades of experience in creative sector advocacy, nonprofit management, and community program and funding development.

Franklin was recently named “Cultural Leader Newcomer of the Year” by the Business Record. Franklin’s recognition speaks to her dedication to nurturing the creative economy and her ability to engage with and inspire the community.

Franklin completed her transition from Community Investment Specialist at Bravo Greater Des Moines to director of Mainframe Studios in December 2023. She is now leading the largest nonprofit art studio building in the country, which opened in 2017 on the north side of downtown Des Moines. At Bravo, Franklin managed a $4.5 million annual operating grant program for more than 85 arts and culture nonprofits in Central Iowa. Previously, she was a Professor of Art at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, where she helped guide the construction and operations at the Helene Center for the Visual Arts. In 2018, she was named an Iowa Artist Fellow and continues to make and exhibit art.