• Article

    Employing 21st century technology to empower 21st century veterans

    Published December 5, 2014 by

    Paul Rieckhoff is CEO and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which Knight Foundation supports to promote civic engagement and use of new storytelling platforms. Photo provided by IAVA. X-Box. Facebook. Streaming video. Post-9/11 veterans grew up with technology, they live and breathe the stuff, and they expect the organizations to which they belong to do the same.   That’s where Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America comes in. We aren’t your grandfather’s Veterans Service Organization. In fact, we don’t even call ourselves a Veterans Service Organization. At IAVA we are proud to call ourselves the first-ever Veterans Empowerment Organization because we don’t just help veterans, we give them the tools to form communities, develop skills, and successfully transition to civilian life. And the resources we’ve gained from our partnership with Knight Foundation are helping making that happen.
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    Northeastern University J-school and Esquire magazine partner on digital storytelling lab

    Published December 5, 2014 by

     Jeff Howe is an assistant professor of journalism at Northeastern University. Knight Foundation recently funded a master’s degree program at Northeastern to help mid-career journalists meet the needs of 21st-century newsrooms. Earlier this year Northeastern University’s School of Journalism received a Knight Foundation grant to launch a Media Innovation graduate program. Students—mostly mid-career journalists and the occasional newly minted J-school grad—would pursue one story over the 18-month course of study. We’d let the story discover its own media, so to speak, rather than, say, imposing an interactive treatment on a piece that wants to be a photo essay. Then we would crack open the considerable resources of Northeastern University to our students. Javascript, data scraping, digital videography—each student writes their own ticket, like a Knight Fellowship with a degree at the end. In the final semester we would work assiduously to place the story with a well-respected media outlet. Poker isn’t poker without money, and journalism isn’t journalism without readers. Since we mostly acquire the craft in a newsroom, we figured we’d bring the newsroom into the university. So far, and to our great pleasure, reality has followed the blueprint.
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    Art can cure construction headaches

    Published December 5, 2014 by

    St. Paul-Minneapolis artists worked with the Center for Hmong Art and Talent and transformed materials found along the construction of the new light-rail Green Line, such as origami and glass jars, into fashion for a performance. This article is cross-posted with permission from Next City.  Imagine a big infrastructure project coming to your main street. Imagine how a streetcar will bring new visitors to your city’s commercial strip, spending money and spreading the word about how cool your neighborhood is. Imagine how that new bus shelter will lure people out of their cars and onto public transit, or how that parklet in what was once a barren median will brighten the day of passersby. Now imagine the months of work it takes to get that project built. The road closures. The traffic. The scaffolding blocking your favorite coffee shop’s facade. A new initiative from a St. Paul-based arts organization can help to make sure those months aren’t miserable — and are in fact pretty enjoyable.
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    Akron’s Boiling Point, where the play’s the thing

    Published December 5, 2014 by

    Akron area actors, would-be actors, and play lovers have a good thing going. Wandering Aesthetics, a small but highly active theater company, has a play-reading series called Akron’s Boiling Point. Anyone interested – in either participating by reading a role or two, or simply listening to some exciting and contemporary...
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    The winners of ArtPop 2015 are…

    Published December 5, 2014 by

    The 2015 ArtPop artists. ArtPop 2015 is fast approaching, and the winners were announced last night at a swanky event at the soon to be Le Méridien Hotel. It was quite a crush as journalists, artists, Arts & Science Council staff and Adams Outdoor Advertising employees...
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    S. Florida arts groups receive share of new NEA funding

    Published December 4, 2014 by

    Jane Chu at the 2014 Knight Arts Challenge South Florida. Photo by Patrick Farrell. South Florida arts organizations received a share of more than $29 million handed out Tuesday by Jane Chu, director of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), during a visit to Pérez Art Museum Miami. Twenty-seven organizations across Florida received $650,000.  The awards included many Knight Foundation grantees, such as: PAMM, which received $25,000 for a retrospective of the work of Catalan artist Antonio Tapies. Cannonball Miami, $15,000 to support artist residencies for artists and scholars. FUNDarte, $25,000 to support Out in the Tropics. 
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    Second SIME MIA digital business conference explores what’s next on the global frontier

    Published December 4, 2014 by

    Every industry became a platform for innovation and a topic of conversation at this week’s SIME MIA conference. Host Ola Ahlvarsson asked Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen and Brigade founder Matt Mahan, to discuss how technology will improve society. “As we continue to live our lives more digitally, we have to ensure that everyone has equal access,” Ibargüen said. Photo by Carlos Valdi. The SIME MIA digital business conference, held Dec. 1-3 around the region, invited an eclectic mix of global influencers to explore the local tech ecosystem and share their experience, prior to the Art Basel celebrations this week. For the second year, Knight Foundation sponsored the conference to help connect South Florida’s innovators and entrepreneurs and share ideas from global thought leaders. On stage, serial investors and entrepreneurs celebrated South Florida for its nascent tech boom and discussed what needs to happen next to make the region a place where world-class, competitive ideas enter a state of rapid iteration.
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    Belaxis Buil at &Gallery

    Published December 4, 2014 by

    Last year, I interviewed artist Belaxis Buil. Her responses, like her explosive personality, overwhelmed my senses. She is the proverbial force of nature to be reckoned with, and that makes me happy. Her work challenges the viewer and makes him or her sit up and listen, even if it makes...