Related Articles

Knight Foundation Invests $435,000 in Digital Art Projects

Knight Foundation Plans $5 M. Art-Tech Initiative in Philadelphia

Knight Foundation’s Catalyst Forum brought together leaders in the arts from various cities and disciplines to Miami Beach, Fla., on Dec. 4, 2023. This inaugural event, titled Catalyst: Digital Transformation in the Arts, convened hundreds of participants at the New World Center, a forward-thinking venue home to the innovative New World Symphony. The forum, hosted by Knight Foundation, aimed to explore how the integration of technology and art offers both opportunities and challenges for building stronger, better informed, and more engaged communities, all of which are critical for a more effective democracy.

Victoria Rogers, Vice President of Arts at Knight Foundation, emphasized during the event that while technology is not a cure-all, its thoughtful use can expand access, redefine boundaries, and address various issues facing the arts.

Throughout the day, attendees engaged in exhibitions, collaborations, and panel discussions examining the digital impact on the arts. The focus was on understanding how artists, curators, administrators, and innovation leaders navigate the implications of technology through the lenses of sustainability, ethics, and exploration, identifying opportunities to enhance the creation, application, and dissemination of art.

“We are living in a rapidly evolving digital landscape,” said Jennifer Farah, Director of Arts at Knight, “It’s time to collectively envision new paths forward, that’s why we convened leading innovators to identify challenges, share information, and build on each others’ ideas.”

Nato Thompson, founder of the Alternative Art School, highlighted the importance of adapting to a future where technology plays a central role in how people experience the world. He described how his online institution reaches students from over 26 countries each semester by leveraging digital arts classrooms, which have significantly reduced startup costs and expanded global reach.

Similarly, John Jarboe, founder of Bearded Ladies Cabaret, discussed how incorporating interactive digital streaming and mail-delivered cabaret boxes has extended the reach of the Philadelphia-based company far beyond its physical community.

While digital tools can enhance existing programs and facilitate the creation of new ones, the forum also addressed concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the arts. Participants debated whether AI represents a revolutionary tool or a potential threat to artistic expression and creativity.

Kelani Nichole, founder of TRANSFER, an experimental media space, underscored the importance of artists envisioning new futures enabled by technology, countering mainstream narratives promoted by technology companies.

Safiya Noble, co-founder of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, emphasized the need for artists to reflect on what is gained and lost in the evolving digital landscape, emphasizing that the answers lie within the artistic community itself.

Art enriches our lives by encouraging participation and critical reflection. It has the extraordinary ability to make us aware, impact our perceptions, challenge our opinions and bring us together. Today, artists and the organizations that present their work are leveraging new and emerging digital technologies in their practices to reach a broader audience and create greater impact. Ultimately, Catalyst highlighted the crucial role of artists and arts organizations in building connections with communities in the digital age. 

ABOUT KNIGHT FOUNDATION

We are social investors who support a more effective democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy, and American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once published newspapers. Find more information at KF.org

Performance of Discrete Figures by Rhizomatiks x Elevenplay at Gray Area’s Grand Theater.

CABURE ALEJANDRO BONUGLI/COURTESY GRAY AREA

As part of its engagements with art and technology, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami will distribute a total of $435,000 to four digital art projects. According to a release, the recipients “aim to help digital artists establish long-term success” and “offer a network of support to artists working in a changing cultural climate.”

Gray Area Foundation for the Arts in San Francisco will get $150,000 to develop a playbook for creating immersive digital art installations in a pop-up museum format. The University of Denver in Colorado will also receive $150,000 to establish the Clinic for Open Source Arts, which will serve to improve the longterm viability for open-source technology in artistic work. With $67,800, the Processing Foundation, headquartered in New York, will develop an outreach program called “Processing Node Cities,” which will build up local digital arts communities and promote coding as a tool for art production in various international hubs. And the School for Poetic Computation will get $62,400 to create public programs that contribute to the growth of Detroit’s arts and technology community.

Chris Barr, director of arts at the Knight Foundation, said in a statement, “As in many parts of modern society, technology advancements have revealed both new opportunities and challenges for artists. At the moment, there are few organizations providing support systems for digital art. These projects are filling that gap, helping artists navigate and thrive in this new terrain.”

Victoria Rogers, Knight Foundation vice president for the arts, added, “Art is a cornerstone of community that plays a vital role in connecting people with the places they live and each other. However, audience expectations for the arts have shifted in the digital age, with an increased appetite for immersive and interactive experiences that incorporate technology. These projects offer new support and resources for artists working to harness the power of technology to engage and inspire audiences.”

The Barnes Foundation.

COURTESY THE BARNES FOUNDATION

The Knight Foundation has established what it’s terming the Art and Technology Fund, a $5 million initiative that will support two major cultural institutions in Philadelphia: the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The money will be used by those museums in using technology in their spaces: the Barnes Foundation will open a digital engagement center, while the Philadelphia Museum of Art will focus the on improving visitors’ experiences through technology.

Victoria Rogers, the Knight Foundation’s vice president for arts, told ARTnews, “The blending of art and technology will play a large role in the future success of museums. The Barnes and Philadelphia Museum of Art have been pioneers in this new frontier, exploring the power of technology to better connect people with the arts. This new investment will bolster their existing digital engagement efforts, open doors for new experiments and generate lessons learned for other cultural institutions looking to innovate.”

New World Symphony WALLCAST concert.

RUI DIAS-AIDOS

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced that it will put $500,000 toward the establishment of the Knight New Work Miami, a new program that will fund the development and staging of performing arts projects in the Floridian city and its surrounding area.

The initiative will recognize artists—including playwrights, composers, and choreographers—living and working in and outside of Miami; applicants must have a “strong connection” to Miami and to arts organizations in Miami-Dade County, according to a release. Winners will share the $500,000 purse, and performances will take place from fall 2020 to spring 2021.

Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation president, said in a statement, “Miami has blossomed into a community where art is created, not just performed or experienced. We want to leverage that. Our success will be measured by more challenging and inspiring works of authentically, made-in-Miami art, for the world to see our artists’ interpretation of our evolving community.”

Submissions to the Knight New Work Miami open call are due August 31.

Visitors to the Detroit Institute of Arts using an augmented reality technology called Lumin.

COURTESY DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS

With funding that totals $970,000, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will help eight museums—including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and the Detroit Institute of Arts—hire staff members to use technology in order to improve audience engagement and visitor experience.

“Our hope is that these dedicated digital staffers will help art institutions better reach and engage audiences by meeting them where they are: on the technological devices they use every day,” Victoria Rogers, the Knight Foundation’s vice president for the arts, said in a statement.

The list of museums and positions follows in full below, organized by city.

Charlotte
The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture – Director of
Technology Innovation

Detroit
The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit – Tech + New Media Curator
Detroit Institute of Arts – Digital Experience Designer

Miami
Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami – Director for Digital Engagement
Strategies
The Wolfsonian at Florida International University – Digital Projects & Community
Organizer

Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts – Director of Museum Technology
The Fabric Workshop and Museum – Museum Technologist

San Jose, California
San Jose Museum of Art – Manager of Interactive Technology

The New Museum has received $250,000 in funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for its technology incubator program, NEW INC. The funds will help the program expand its purview through an effort to find new members investigating technology’s impact on the future of art museums.

Now in its third year, NEW INC is a “cultural incubator dedicated to supporting innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship across art, design, and technology.” With the new funds, it will introduce a 12-month professional development program for up to ten people geared toward creating technology that encourages museum attendance and interest. Costs for participation in the program will be covered, and the prospect of $10,000 in seed funding will also be made available through the program.

In a statement, NEW INC’s director, Julia Kaganskiy, described the current market for museum technology innovation as “underdeveloped and underserved.” With the additional funds, she said, “These NEW INC members will explore new exhibition design ideas, audience engagement tools, cost-effective products, and more efficient services to meet this need.”

Applicants can apply during an open call running through April 30 at the NEW INC website. The program will run from September 2017 through August 2018.

Rhizome’s current splash page.

COURTESY RHIZOME

It’s been a whirlwind long year for the Rhizome, which is wrapping up its 20th anniversary year with quite a bang.

Over the past 12 months, the New York–based digital arts organization relaunched its website, received a $600,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to fund its digital preservation tool, Webrecorder, and began presenting a new two-year exhibition series called Net Art Anthology that will trace the history of net art and digital-based art from the late 1980s to today.

And now Rhizome has announced that it has received a $200,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, added two new board members, and hired three new staff members that will help round-out the organization’s expanding preservation and curatorial-editorial arms.

The Knight Foundation grant will be directed at further growing the Mellon-funded Webrecorder tool, but while the two-year Mellon grant was aimed at building out the infrastructural and programming behind the tool, the Knight grant will be focused on engaging the public in its use of the tool. Essentially, the Rhizome team will begin to work with various organizations, journalists, social media personalities, and artists to begin archiving their everyday experiences of the web.

“Using technology to help people more easily find and preserve information so they can make decisions about their lives is essential to building stronger, more engaged communities,” the Knight Foundation’s director, Chris Barr, said in a statement.

Rhizome’s board of directors has expanded to 17 members, adding Los Angeles-based artist and “conceptual entrepreneur” Martine Syms and investment management firm Lux Capital co-founder Josh Wolfe.

Syms, a rising star in the art world, has deep Rhizome connections—she participated in the 2015 edition of the organization’s annual art-meets-tech conference Seven on Seven and was included in the New Museum’s much-lauded 2015 Triennial, which was co-curated by Lauren Cornell, a former Rhizome director.

Wolfe’s Lux Capital funds scientists and entrepreneurs, focusing on augmented reality, robots, drones, neurostimulation, nuclear energy, self-driving cars, 3-D printing and scanning, and more. He is a columnist for Forbes and has lectured at MIT, Harvard, and NYU.

Finally, Rhizome has made three three hires. Lyndsey Jane Moulds is joining as software curator and will work on researching emulation, as well as collaborating with Assistant Net Art Curator Aria Dean on the curatorial-editorial side. Mark Beasley has joined as a Webrecorder developer, and Lozana Rossenova, who will focus on studying digital art curation, will be Rhizome’s inaugural PhD researcher in an exchange program with London South Bank University.