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.”