Kevin Draper studied engineering, and then architecture at the University of Michigan after attending secondary school in West Germany. He was a founding year student in the graduate architecture program at Tulane University.

After a few years working as a mechanical engineer, Draper matriculated at Notre Dame University for an Executive MBA. Kevin’s work in virtual, deconstructed environments translated well into a business career working to build and launch international business to business networks and online environments.

In 2010 Draper moved to New York, and founded Satellite Collective. Working at first with dancers and choreographers from the New York City Ballet, and then Alvin Ailey, San Francisco Ballet, and William Forsyth Company, Draper embarked on a decade long project of ballets driven by story, and set in New York. The works have premiered at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Baryshnikov Arts Center, 92Y, and regional performing arts centers in Michigan and Portland, Oregon. These works are large scale productions, the NYT has called them “overflowing with creative inspiration.” Draper’s digital projection work for these productions, large scale, makes up a core part of his visual works.

In 2018 the Borough of Brooklyn  with current Mayor of New York Eric Adams as President, awarded Satellite Collective a Citation for Achievement in the Arts for building a sustainable arts organization and contributing materially to the future of the arts in Brooklyn. Kevin Draper himself also received a Citation for Achievement in the Arts in recognition of his contribution to the culture of Brooklyn.

Draper’s work in ballet, and his network in technology come together in his installations, machinery and projection imagery. In 2021, Draper flew a pair of aerostats at the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum, and Rosa Parks Circle, a Maya Lin installation. They were crafted with steel towers, timber masts, and the ability to shade and record performances below and around them.

The aerostats themselves are heavy, able to sustain interaction with public crowds, constructed of 8 oz. kevlar fabric with handmade fins of ripstop nylon. When aloft, the are highly reflective cinema screens looming over the public space. Beneath this, was the Grand Rapids Ballet performing live.

To communicate the idea, Draper created a signature “silent libretto”. The influence of early multimedia artists is clear in the adoption timeline techniques. Drawings are generated on ipads, corrupted on a journey through multiple apps and packaged as projection settings of 25 feet in height to 40 feet in width, and move gently.