On January 26, 2021, Knight Foundation released the “Digital Transformation: An assessment of grants supporting digital staff in museums” report. The assessment presents a set of recommendations for investing in the digital capacity of museums. Click here to see the findings. Knight’s Chris Barr shares more below. In 2017, when Knight Foundation began to deepen its […]
Article · January 26, 2021 by Chris Barr
On October 16, 2020, Knight Foundation released the “Digital Readiness and Innovation in Museums” report, highlighting the status of digital innovation in museums prior to the COVID-19 crisis and identifying challenges and opportunities that might exist in building capacity for resiliency as the cultural landscape changes. Click here to see the report. Knight’s Chris Barr shares more […]
Article · October 16, 2020 by Chris Barr
As the coronavirus pandemic began to unfold, arts and cultural organizations were among the first to close their doors to the public. So many arts activities involve making and sharing art in person that stay-at-home orders led concert halls, museums, theaters and smaller venues to unexpectedly cease activities. The economic impact has been harsh. Almost […]
Article · May 12, 2020 by Chris Barr
On July 27, Knight Foundation opened a new call for ideas exploring how arts institutions can present immersive experiences to engage audiences. Knight’s Chris Barr shares details below. See the press release here. It used to be the case that immersive technology (such as virtual and augmented reality) was on the fringe of the arts field. For […]
Article · July 17, 2019 by Chris Barr
Today, we launch On View, a new podcast series that examines how museums and cultural institutions are evolving to keep pace with a changing world. Part of Knight’s arts and technology initiative, the podcast features leading voices in the field discussing both the challenges and opportunities that technology presents. Guests illuminate ways in which arts […]
Article · June 5, 2019 by Chris Barr
On Nov. 15, 2018, Knight Foundation announced $435,000 in funding for new arts technology projects that foster a strong future for digital art-making. Learn more about the announcement here. Technology-based art is not new. For decades, artists have used technology as a tool and medium for expression. From Nam June Paik’s large-scale video sculptures to Complex […]
Article · November 15, 2018 by Chris Barr
Sometimes it is hard to find the poetry in technology. Though most people use technology as part of their daily life, the coldness of machines makes it easy to overlook the richness of human culture that flows through their circuits. Yet culture can move quickly, aided by our devices, whether it’s a virtual museum tour, […]
Article · February 15, 2018 by Chris Barr
In March Knight Foundation, along with partners the Democracy Fund and the Rita Allen Foundation, launched an open call for ideas around the question: How might we improve the flow of accurate information? As part of a larger initiative centered on trust in journalism, we were seeking projects that could be quickly built and to […]
Article · June 22, 2017 by Chris Barr
When we launched the Prototype Fund in 2012 our goal was to help innovators push media, journalism and civic information projects forward by giving them an avenue to build fast, fail forward and learn quickly. The initiative recognized that the speed of innovation, coupled with the low-cost of experimentation opened an opportunity for innovators to test, […]
Article · March 10, 2017 by Chris Barr
In 2011 Knight Foundation partnered with the Mozilla Foundation to create the Knight-Mozilla OpenNews project, as an effort to embed technologists within news organizations through a fellowship program. We sought to promote culture change and to help accelerate the needed transition to digital thinking. The project quickly took root, and in 2013 we followed up […]
Article · February 9, 2017 by Chris Barr
Nearly three years ago we started funding prototypes as a way to make small bets on exploratory work that promises to create new pathways for information that is essential for communities. We’ve focused on providing funding for broad experimentation at this early stage, designing a program that asks small teams to iteratively test their assumptions […]
Article · April 30, 2015 by Chris Barr