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    Julian Schnabel helps kick off art season

    Published October 10, 2014 by

    Julian Schnabel "Untitled (Self Portrait)," 2004. Although Art Basel Miami Beach is still two months in the future, museums are starting to pull out their big guns and unveil the exhibits they will feature during that frenetic, international art week. The NSU Museum of Art Fort...
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    The convergence of industries, where innovation takes place

    Published October 10, 2014 by

    Angela Benton is founder and CEO of NewME Accelerator, which jump-starts promising tech businesses through hands-on classes and facilitating connections with venture capitalists and other advisers. Below, she writes about NewME’s return to Miami for its third local PopUp accelerator on Oct. 18-19, an initiative that Knight Foundation  supports.   It seems like over the past several years there has been an overwhelming number of discussions on innovation, which is always heralded as the “next big thing.” I’ve seen a ton of startups and worked with a ton of companies who all claim to be innovating within their industries.  Let’s be honest: Most of them aren’t innovating. However, of the companies that are innovating there are common themes among them, one of which is the convergence of one or more industries. Seeing this convergence first hand makes me even more excited to partner with REVOLT TV and Knight Foundation to bring NewME’s annual PopUp in Miami to the Revolt Music Conference as an Idea Lab. It’s a two-day experience that converges music, technology and entrepreneurship.  We’ll be at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach on Oct. 18-19 discussing entrepreneurship and tech in a series of fireside chats with innovators.
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    Want to build a bikeable city? Focus on those who don’t bike

    Published October 10, 2014 by

    There are plenty of good reasons to plan cities so they attract more bikes and fewer cars. But according to 8-80 Cities Executive Director Gil Penalosa, many cities are going about it the wrong way. Those reasons include the fact that biking helps fight two 21st century plagues: gridlock and obesity. What’s more, better paths for bikes and pedestrians will reduce traffic deaths for both. Not to mention that biking is cheaper than driving and requires no gasoline. Yet many cities “are investing in the 2 percent who already bike, not the 98 percent who don’t,” said Penalosa, citing trail maps, bike parking, racks on buses and lines on streets. These are all well and good, but the only thing that will attract new riders is making them feel safe on the road. That in turn takes two things: slowing speeds down to 20 mph or less, and separating bike lanes from roadways with raised curbs, planters or dedicated streets.
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    Music from Latin America at Reading Terminal Market

    Published October 9, 2014 by

    By Ann Mintz, Reading Terminal Market In September, Reading Terminal Market celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, working in partnership with two culturally-specific organizations: AfroTaino Productions, and Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas. Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Rosa Diaz Afrotaino Productions was founded in 2005 by Rahsaan Lucas and Marangeli Mejia Rabell,...
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    Celebrated Mezzo adds multimedia opera to her résumé

    Published October 9, 2014 by

    By Joey Bargsten, Composer and Director of multimedia opera MelanchoLalaland™ I’ve just completed recording Katharine Goeldner singing the soundtrack for my film-Intermezzo “Casual (Sex) Friday”. Katharine has established an international reputation as one of today’s finest mezzo-sopranos. She has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Lyric Opera...
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    Make the most of your entry for the Knight Cities Challenge

    Published October 9, 2014 by

    After two extremely popular virtual office hours and a great response to community events around the country, it’s clear that we have tapped into a potential gold mine of ideas to make our cities more successful. We’ve received many inquiries regarding logistics, which are covered in detail at KnightCities.org, but there is one question I’ve heard most frequently: “What do you really want to see?” The answer is powerful, ambitious ideas that use place to accelerate talent, opportunity and engagement in one or all of the 26 Knight communities. If your idea fits those criteria, we’re open as to how you get there. So I can’t give you examples of projects we want to fund. What I can offer, though, is some tips on the best way to make your idea stands out: Be clear. This is not a traditional grant application; we’re not looking for proposals written in “grant-speak.” Use everyday language that is clear and compelling and avoids jargon. We want to be able to see the essence of your idea at a glance, which is why our applications asks that you sum up the idea in a tweet, 140 characters or less. (We’re not asking you to tweet out your ideas, although you certainly can if you’d like).
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    From waffles to workshops: what’s coming up in Miami in October

    Published October 9, 2014 by

    Code for Miami weekly civic hack night at the LAB Miami. Photo by Flickr user Ernie Hsiung.  This month’s lineup of Knight Foundation-supported events in Miami features opportunities for a cross-section of innovators—from the civic-minded hacker who yearns to catalyze change, to the casual creative who enjoys conversation over waffles. See what’s on tap for October: Oct.15, 22 and 29: #WaffleWednesday, the tech and creatives morning meetup in Wynwood that occurs every Wednesday.  Oct. 13: Meet Knight Foundation Miami breakfast; join our bimonthly free breakfast event to learn about our work and provide feedback. You can RSVP here for the Oct. 13 event.  Oct. 9: HYPE Miami, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s young professionals network, presents “Tech Tank: Keeping Miami Afloat in a Growing Technology Ecosystem.” 
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    Business showcase displays the potential of South Florida’s startups

    Published October 9, 2014 by

      Rob Strandberg is president and CEO of Enterprise Development Corp. Below, he writes about the Emerging Technology Business Showcase and other efforts to nurture startups in South Florida with support from Knight Foundation. Miami is attracting a national spotlight that is increasingly shining on our startup ecosystem. More investors are sending their scouts to South Florida, and shared co-working spaces and business incubators are popping up everywhere, assisted by the substantial support for our entrepreneurial projects from Knight Foundation, Endeavor Miami, YPO Florida, and angel and venture capital groups. These efforts are catalyzing the real progress our entrepreneurs are making within our community. We’ve certainly come a long way, but earning the nicknames, “Silicon Beach,” or “the Internet Coast,” didn’t happen overnight—and there’s still much that needs to be done if we want to prove that these monikers are justified. One challenge that we are consistently tackling at the Enterprise Development Corp. is how to best bring together the growing number of promising, early-stage companies calling South Florida home, with quality capital and active, dedicated investors. While we’re making progress, with several investment groups such as New World Angels and Accelerated Growth Partners stepping up to the plate, ask any entrepreneur in Miami what they could use more of and nine times out of 10 they will tell you “capital funding.”
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    Miami takes on Knight Cities Challenge

    Published October 9, 2014 by

    About 300 people attended the Knight Cities Challenge information session at The Stage in Miami’s Design District Tuesday evening. Photo by Jenna Buehler GET KNIGHT CITIES CHALLENGE EMAIL UPDATES City visionaries crowded The Stage in Miami’s Design District Tuesday night to learn more about the Knight Cities Challenge and potentially share in $5 million available to innovators willing to do the work to make cities more successful. The challenge, a national call for ideas that can be put to work in one or all of  26 communities where Knight Foundation invests, opened Oct. 1 and closes at 5 p.m. Eastern Time Nov. 14. That big ideas can take place anywhere was a common theme at the event. Examples of repurposing underused spaces as “people places” were presented by representatives from Gehl Architects, who were visiting Miami as part of an effort to learn more about Knight’s efforts. The foundation has been interested in Gehl’s work because of its track record in making cities more livable, which cultivates the attraction and retention of talent, creates economic opportunity and enables civic engagement, essential elements of city success.
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    American University fellowship to foster leadership in media innovation

    Published October 9, 2014 by

    Photo: Associate Prof. Lindsay Grace directs the American University Game Lab and Studio. Jeffrey Rutenbeck is the dean of the School of Communication at American University, which is launching a new fellowship program with the support of Knight Foundation. The early 21st century will probably be remembered as the age when smartphones changed almost everything about how we relate to information, the time when social media became the go-to media for anyone under 30, the point when a generation raised on video games reached adulthood -- and the moment of truth for a journalism industry that had sluggishly lost its way.   Managing life in this complex new world requires ever-more complex forms of media, and charting a course of sustained change requires that media leaders develop new mindsets and skillsets that can constantly push, reorganize and reiterate efforts to inform and engage.