• Article

    Exploring the entries in Knight News Challenge: Libraries

    Published October 16, 2014 by

    We started our Knight News Challenge on Libraries on Sept. 2 with a call for inspiration. We asked the question, How might we leverage libraries as a platform to build more knowledgeable communities? For the second year we used the OpenIDEO platform to facilitate an open and engaging conversation, while ultimately looking to spur more ideas. Next week, we’ll name the semifinalists, but since the challenge closed Sept. 30, we’ve seen a persistence in the energy around libraries. The robust engagement and submissions have made for rich discussion and content for our readers as they tirelessly evaluate each of the 680 proposals. It is not only our readers who have worked to make sense of these proposals. Many who submitted proposals, and others who are just intrigued by the ideas, are still reading, commenting and applauding submissions. One individual, Matt Miller (@thisismmiller) of the New York Public Library Labs, took his interest to the next level and unearthed valuable insight regarding this year's submissions.
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    Fundación Educative Carlos M. Castañeda presents an evening of Latin American classics with Martha Marchena

    Published October 16, 2014 by

    Fundación Educative Carlos M. Castañeda (FECMC) proudly presents an Evening of Latin American Classics with lauded pianist Martha Marchena. Marchena’s unique repertoire, captivating performances and innovative discography has engaged listeners for decades. Born in Cuba, she has performed as a soloist with orchestras and chamber music ensembles worldwide. She takes...
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    Giving Days Deep Dive: Join us Monday for a discussion on online giving campaigns

    Published October 16, 2014 by

    Giving Days have become such an important event for so many community foundations that this year’s Council on Foundations’ Fall Conference is going deep on the topic. What do we know about the effect of Giving Days – beyond the dollars raised and numbers of donors participating? What do they mean for the future of community foundations? We hope to answer some of those questions during our Giving Days Deep Dive from 2 to 5:15 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20, at the conference in Cleveland. We’ll also be liveblogging the session here on KnightBlog, so that folks who aren’t attending can follow along. The three-hour session will bring together a wide range of speakers, including foundation program officers, evaluators, technology platform providers and network experts.
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    Miami Dade College to infuse curriculum with entrepreneurial thinking

    Published October 16, 2014 by

    Photo: Miami-Dade College by Ines Hegedus Garcia. Eduardo J. Padrón is president of Miami Dade College. Knight Foundation is providing $2.1 million in support to broaden the work of the new entrepreneurship hub at Miami Dade College, the Idea Center. “You’ve either got it or you don’t.” We’ve all heard that familiar blanket assessment at some point in our lives. It might have rung in your ears on an athletic field, stung you in a classroom or dampened your confidence in a work environment. Granted, most of us don’t have Michael Jordan’s athleticism or Einstein’s smarts, but nonetheless, most of the time that mantra of “you’ve either got it or you don’t” is dead wrong. And contrary to popular opinion, it’s off the mark when it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship. Miami Dade College (MDC) and Knight Foundation are about to prove it with the introduction of the Idea Center at MDC. Entrepreneurship is a skill to be learned, and one that finds its expression in the community. Through our partnership with Knight Foundation and Babson College, one of the nation’s leading entrepreneurial institutions, we’re introducing entrepreneur-focused programming that will span the curriculum, cultivating ideas and entrepreneurial ventures in a full range of business and social endeavors.
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    The new jewel of Hialeah

    Published October 16, 2014 by

    When I was a boy, my grandmother would take me the the Hialeah Park Race Track—a.k.a., the "Jewel of Hialeah." She'd bet on the horses, and I would, too. I'd eat hot dogs and sip on Coke while she hooted and hollered for X or Y horse to cross the...
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    A moveable [artist’s book] feast

    Published October 16, 2014 by

    EXILE books at Locust Projects. Photo by Nabil Moo.  The EXILE Books display cases have a minimalist, clean design. They are both an installation and a tool, elegant, but also sturdy and purposeful.  They also have wheels. EXILE Books is an itinerant artists’ bookstore, and for the next year, it will move around various locations in South Florida. The first stop at the Locust Projects, in the Design District, concluded with a site-specific performance by the Peter London Global Dance Company on Oct. 9. Up next is Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables, where it will reside from Oct. 15 to Nov. 20. And from there, on to Miami Book Fair International. In a border town often defined by movement and reinvention, it is a statement, poetic and practical.  “Miami has that atmosphere that allows people to do things that are more experimental or provocative. That’s kind of the beauty of Miami, and clearly, it’s generating a lot of attention,” says visual artist, curator, writer and Knight Arts Challenge finalist Amanda Keeley, the architect behind EXILE Books. “Miami is still forming an identity and it offers so much opportunity. There are a lot of entry points for people to start whatever they like to start. That’s very exciting, and probably why I was drawn back.”
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    ‘Knight Cities’ podcast: Talking livability and sustainability with Vin Cipolla

    Published October 15, 2014 by

    Not many nonprofits have been around more than 100 years, especially ones dedicated to creating a more livable city.  But the Municipal Art Society of New York – or MAS NYC as it is now known -- has defied the odds and continues to thrive in a fast-changing city.  With a storied history of championing the first municipal zoning code in the United States and saving Times Square and Grand Central Terminal, today the organization leads a broad agenda promoting the city’s economic vitality, cultural vibrancy, environmental sustainability and social diversity. This week on “Knight Cities,” our guest is Vin Cipolla, president of MAS NYC.
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    18 news and information ideas receive Knight Prototype Fund support

    Published October 15, 2014 by

    Knight Prototype Fund winners met this summer to share ideas in Pittsburgh. Photo: Michael Bolden. Eighteen projects will each receive $35,000 in funding and time to test their media and information ideas as the latest recipients of grants from the Knight Prototype Fund. The fund, which Knight launched in 2012, encourages the rapid iteration and testing of ideas while providing a support network for the creators. The recipients join a cohort of winners who get the opportunity to receive human-centered design training and to share ideas and concepts with other people experiencing similar opportunities and challenges. “We’re very interested in lighting fires under new projects and taking risks with the knowledge that some of those projects might fail,” said Chris Barr, director for media innovation at Knight Foundation. “The Prototype Fund is built to accept that risk. A lot of them are going to take a left turn at Albuquerque and turn into something that we don’t expect at all, but we can always learn from them.” Recently, new prototype grant recipients traveled to Pittsburgh, Pa., and shared in that learning. They experienced human-centered design training at LUMA Institute, which gives them a better understanding of how to respond to the needs of potential users as they develop their projects and services, and listened to previous recipients talk about the development of their ideas and their next steps during a demo day at Left Field Meeting Space.
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    CriticCar covers the 2014 Knight Arts Challenge Detroit

    Published October 15, 2014 by

    By Jennifer Conlin, Founder and Editor of CriticCar Detroit Call it the Oscars of Detroit’s art world, but thanks to the Knight Foundation, individuals and organizations working hard to culturally revitalize the Motor City were recently acknowledged for the second year in a row at the Fillmore Theatre. Last year,...
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    Get in the mood with landscape painting

    Published October 14, 2014 by

    Scott Armetta, "10/a 10/b". It’s so nice to realize that landscape painting has not died, and that some of the best of it is still, well, old school. A great case in point: the gorgeous paintings of Scott Armetta hanging in the artist-run GucciVuitton gallery. Walk...