• Article

    Philly neighbors connect with engaging ‘block party in a box’

    Published July 1, 2014 by

    Kevin Musselman is the manager of neighborhood and resource planning for the People’s Emergency Center in Philadelphia, a Knight Foundation grantee. Darlene Faulkner, a resident of the West Powelton neighborhood in West Philadelphia, was shocked to see the giant present with the oversized bow headed for her front door. Her daughters seemed surprised too, a Christmas-morning look in their eyes. Having been selected as the first official winner of the “Block Party in a Box” program, Darlene was already aware that People’s Emergency Center would be sponsoring her July 4th block party, which undoubtedly would animate the 4000 block of Green Street with music, conversation and laughter. Residents engaging with the block party But she had no idea her award would be presented so fantastically: a 6-foot-square package that, when opened, unleashes balloons, plays music and collapses into a 3-D block party diorama, including houses, streets and even a plush SEPTA bus. It’s literally a block party in a box. “Block Party in a Box” is full of everything necessary to host a great block party. The contents include a $150 gift card for food, a gift card for a free moon bounce, free popcorn machine rental, balloons, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, tote bags and a choice between having a disc jockey, a clown or a photo booth scheduled for the event.
  • Article

    How can we connect artists and communities? Thoughts from #AspenIdeas

    Published June 30, 2014 by

    The Lift | Laura Zabel & Dennis Scholl Interview from The Lift on Vimeo. Knight’s Dennis Scholl is at the Aspen Ideas Festival this week, talking about the impact of culture on communities.  While there, he spoke with Springboard for the Arts’ Laura Zabel on local TV about how artists can better connect with their neighbors. The St. Paul-based Springboard fosters those connections with a variety of programs -  one of which involves a very large black dog.   As a way to ease the difficulties caused by recent light rail construction in the Twin Cities, Springboard trained hundreds of local artists in community development, resulting in 120 creative projects along what is now the Green Line. When the Black Dog Cafe was losing business  because of a makeshift moat dug around its location during construction, a puppeteer created a roving black dog that took the business’ sign and brand out into the community, reminding people  the cafe was open. Scholl and Zabel will be on a panel at 10:20 a.m. MT Tuesday on “The Communities We Hope For” and the role the arts have in shaping them. Their co-panelists are Jamie Bennett of ArtPlace America, Kate Levin of Bloomberg Associates and Eric Liu, former White House adviser and founder of Citizen University. On Twitter, you can follow the conference with #AspenIdeas, and watch panel video on the festival’s site.
  • Article

    Civic Media Conference discusses ‘putting users first’

    Published June 30, 2014 by

    John Bracken, Emi Kolawole and Kristen Titus at the Knight-MIT Civic Media Conference. In a time when technology allows for a continuous stream of creating “the next big thing,” project leaders may lose track of what potential users really need. The solution? Remembering to keep an open mind by continually asking “why?” That was the message from panelists during a discussion on “Putting Users First” at the 2014 MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference in Cambridge, Mass., last week. Putting Users First on Livestream.com Ethan Zuckerman, director of the MIT Center for Civic Media, set the tone for the discussion in his introductory remarks. Zuckerman told participants that several questions should have surfaced when hearing presentations at the conference about projects people are developing. “Who are the users of all of these things? How do we think about the users of different aspects of civic technology?” Zuckerman asked. “And how do we design for and design around and preferably design with those users?”
  • Article

    Pradera doesn’t back off with “Bare Bones”

    Published June 30, 2014 by

    Carlota Pradera's “Bare Bones,” a fantastic collaborative effort with special guest artist Lazaro Godoy, Cuban filmmaker Juan Carlos Zaldivar, lighting designer Alexey Taran and sound artists/composers Juraj Kojs and Rainer Davies, was an exquisitely aggressive and well-cultivated production that stripped down elements of experimental dance, live music and video installation....
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    The Nightlight Cinema Theater brings indies to Akron

    Published June 30, 2014 by

    What’s the buzz; tell me what’s happening. Sounds like some lyrics from the play and music “Jesus Christ, Superstar,” but it’s especially appropriate in thinking about The Nightlight Cinema, a 50-seat, one-screen movie-theater that is opening July 1 at 30 N. High Street in downtown Akron. The Nightlight Cinema will...
  • Article

    Sharp contrasts abound in Bruce Weber’s Detroit

    Published June 30, 2014 by

    Image courtesy of the Detroit Institute of Arts I had the privilege of viewing the DIA’s newest special photography exhibit, featuring the Detroit-based work of fashion photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber, in the company of a team of Detroit high school students, taking a rain break...
  • Article

    Miami joins the #NationofMakers

    Published June 30, 2014 by

    Knight Foundation supports the Miami Makers Initiative to connect talented people and foster creative environments that stimulate new ideas. Below, organizer Ric Herrero, co-founder of MIAMade, writes about the maker movement here in South Florida. Photo credit: Michael Bolden.  “Is the Maker Movement real or just a really cool fad?” Several people asked me this after the huge success of our first Miami Mini Maker Faire, sponsored by Knight Foundation, last November. There, regional inventors and entrepreneurs both young and old showcased over 60 innovative projects, products and services they conjured up using technology such as 3-D printers, desktop tools, design software and good old-fashioned craftsmanship. Seeing the creativity of our local makers was energizing, and the Miami Mini Maker Faire proved it had the potential to be a hugely popular community event for years to come. Despite the undeniable gee-whiz factor of these gatherings, some have asked, could the ideas on display actually spawn effective solutions to real-world problems? I wish those people could have joined me at the San Francisco Bay Area and White House Maker Faires earlier this year. Either event would have made a believer out of the most hardened skeptic.
  • Article

    Big Band Swing Night: A night in photos

    Published June 29, 2014 by

    By Dayna Martinez, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts It was Big Band Swing Night in Rice Park on Thursday night, June 26th for the Ordway’s Summer Dance Series, and everyone had a swingin’ good time under the summer sky. Professional dance instructors from Arthur Murray Saint Paul taught the...