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    Informing and generating interest in elections and voting

    Published March 12, 2015 by

    Photo by Flickr user Dean Terry. David W. Nickerson is an associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame. Below he writes on inspirations for Knight News Challenge: Elections, which asks the question, How might we better inform voters and increase civic participation before, during and after elections? The best nonpartisan ideas will share in more than $3 million. Apply at newschallenge.org. I have spent the past 15 years studying how to mobilize people to vote. The people who work to engage the electorate obviously care about elections a great deal.  When crafting messages to engage erstwhile voters, I often have to remind my collaborators—and myself—that the people who need encouragement to vote are not interested in politics. 
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    A foundation’s media partnership helps reach ethnic communities

    Published March 12, 2015 by

    This post is one in a series on what four community and place-based foundations are learning by funding media projects that help to meet their local information needs. All are funded through the Knight Community Information Challenge. Great storytelling ability typically isn't a top skill found among managers and staff of community foundations. But, of course, it's second nature to most journalists. As community foundations focus on creating better "informed communities," many face choices about how to add storytelling skills to their organizations' repertoire. Do foundation leaders hire creative people for newly created positions devoted to community information and news? Do they train existing staff to become exemplary storytellers? Rely on freelancers? Or do they look to outside partnerships and programs, where journalists and other creatives are funded to help achieve the foundation's goals?
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    Knight heads to SXSW

    Published March 11, 2015 by

    Photo from SXSW 2014 by Michael Bolden. This post has been updated. 3/13/2015 10 a.m. It’s that time of year again, and Knight Foundation is headed to Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest. This year, we have a terrific lineup of events to showcase our current News Challenge and to celebrate our partnerships. Here are some of the many places where you can connect with us: Knight News Challenge open office hours Swing by The Driskill Hotel bar to chat with us about the Knight News Challenge on Elections. This round, we are offering a share of $3 million for the best nonpartisan ideas that answer the question: How might we better inform voters and increase civic participation before, during and after elections? Stop by with your questions and great ideas.
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    Knight Cities podcast: Emerging stronger from trial by fire in Chicago

    Published March 11, 2015 by

    [[soundcloud 195328628]]   Jim Lasko had a failure to ignite—literally—in front of thousands of people. As a Loeb Fellow and executive artistic director of Chicago-based Redmoon Theater, Jim conceived a major public festival to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire. Unfortunately, when the time came, there was no great fire – not even a good one. Jim shares his story of failure and redemption, and his determination to come back stronger than ever this week on “Knight Cities.”  Listen to my conversation with Jim here. And sign up for the “Knight Cities” newsletter to get alerts as soon as new conversations are posted.
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    Miami in March: PreMoney Miami, 2015 Startup City and other events…

    Published March 11, 2015 by

    Flagler Street in downtown Miami. Credit: Robertson Adams. March brings another terrific lineup of events supported by Knight Foundation, including the inaugural PreMoney Miami (use promo code "KNIGHT"), the return of Startup City: Miami (use promo code "Knight79") and MIA Music Summit.  I want to especially highlight the Singularity Global Impact Challenge Miami information session on Wednesday, March 18. The contest invites entrepreneurs to submit ideas that address the challenge of sea level rise in South Florida. The information session will include a talk by Salim Ismail, Singularity founding executive director. Here’s a look at what lies ahead: 
  • Article

    Valuing artists, in all senses of the word

    Published March 11, 2015 by

    A scene from 'Romeo and Juliet,' as performed by Shakespeare in Detroit.  This article is cross-posted with permission from Creative Exchange. You may have read that the rise of the creative entrepreneur is leading to the death of the artist. That’s not our experience. We’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with people in communities all across the United States, and there are artists everywhere. There are artists who call themselves artists, artists who haven’t yet claimed that word, artists creating work in studios, artists who are making their blocks feel like home and artists who are taking on the most critical issues of our time. Artists are everywhere, in every community, on every street and their work is more relevant than ever. We have been sharing these artists’ stories from across the country on the Creative Exchange platform, a partnership with Issue Media Group and the Knight Foundation. We’ve been able to share the stories of people like Cincinnati theatermaker Joi Sears, whose Theater for Free People uses "…theatre to put the audience in the position to experience and invoke change in themselves and in the world." We shared the story of Nikiko Masumoto, a farmer and artist in California’s Central Valley who says, "I believe in the magic of storytelling, not only for teller but also the listener. The possibility of public exchange is so rich for inspiring changes in behaviors and public policy shifts." These are stories of artists working at intersections, supporting, engaging and making change in communities across the country.
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    Hattie Mae Williams brings guerrilla dance performances to public places with Tattooed Ballerinas

    Published March 11, 2015 by

    This article is cross-posted with permission from Creative Exchange. Hattie Mae Williams grew up in Miami and attended the New World School of Arts magnet high school where, she says, she learned a lot about how to use art as a way to promote social change. She then went on to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in New York for her MFA where she became interested in site-specific dance. "I was starting to see that theatre was predominantly for a certain demographic," Williams says. "I was learning that a lot of people didn't go to theatres." This realization, among others, became the impetus for the Tattooed Ballerinas. "It doesn't makes sense all the time for me to perform in theatres. The Tattooed Ballerinas formed because I was finding it difficult to fit into this certain structure. People had a certain idea of what a dancer was, a certain aesthetic. But the people I was working with, including myself, [we didn't really] fit into this aesthetic." She wanted to create a place where people like her – both dancers and audience members alike – felt comfortable, where there wasn't this sort of stilted perception of the theatre that is only for certain people (as audience members) and only embraces certain people (as performers).
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    Learn more about the Detroit Knight Arts Challenge

    Published March 11, 2015 by

    The MBAD African Bead Museum, a 2014 Knight Arts Challenge winner. With the Knight Arts Challenge in Detroit around the corner, we’re organizing a series of events we hope will answer all your questions about the contest. This year, for the first time, we’re hosting a launch party and pitch session from 6 to 8 p.m. March 24 at Bert’s Market Place in Eastern Market, 2727 Russell St. It’s a casual way to get together and enjoy happy hour with Knight Foundation’s Nicole Chipi and Katy Locker, in addition to past challenge winners. There will also be a pitch session, where a few applicants can volunteer to go onstage, talk about their idea and receive feedback immediately.
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    Inside “Black Ink” at MDC-Hialeah

    Published March 11, 2015 by

    By Jamie Dianne Acebo, Miami Dade College Hialeah Campus On February 25th, 2015 the Hialeah Cultural Center opened its doors to “Black Ink”, the first curated exhibition at MDC-Hialeah Campus. The new Hialeah Cultural Center, was established with the fundraising support of the Knight Arts Challenge Grant. The Center will...
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    Knight Prototype Fund winner Hollaback! convenes diverse groups to fight harassment

    Published March 10, 2015 by

    Photo courtesy of Hollaback! Brooklyn-born to Palestinian immigrant parents, Linda Sarsour offered her experience as Exhibit A of what sometimes happens when her presence offends another. For example, one New York day, while queued up with her then 4-year-old son at her local bank, a nearby customer started cursing her and her “kind” of people, she said. Loudly, that middle-aged man asked what kind of establishment dared to serve an obviously Muslim Sarsour, her face exposed but head and neck covered in her customary hijab, she said. His rant continued until the teller beckoned him to jump ahead of 14 other customers so she could handle his business and he could exit, Sarsour said. Of her other fellow customers, “Not one of them said, ‘Don’t talk to that woman like that,’” the National Network for Arab American Communities’ Sarsour told those gathered for Holla::Rev 2015 at The New School in Manhattan last Thursday.