• Article

    CodeNow expands to Miami to introduce more youth to the tech world

    Published April 29, 2014 by

    Ryan Seashore is founder and CEO of CodeNow, a national nonprofit that provides high school students from groups underrepresented in technology exposure to computer programming. CodeNow is expanding to Miami with the support of Knight Foundation. Above: Two D.C students work together on a programming project. Photo credit: Duy Tran. In June CodeNow will launch its first coding workshop in Miami and begin teaching local youth 21st century skills. Miami’s tech scene is buzzing, and we are thrilled to receive such a great welcome from the emerging tech scene. With the support of Knight Foundation, we will provide free in-person coding workshops on the weekends. Students who go through our program will get to look under the hood of technology and will be exposed to the possibility of a career in the tech field. This is the perfect time for CodeNow to enter Miami. We’ve just completed the winter session at Y Combinator, where we were a member of the first cohort of nonprofits to benefit from the expertise of the startup accelerator. As part of the program, we’ve enhanced CodeNow to leverage technology and reach many more students. Miami is the first city where we are expanding since completing this milestone. We are looking forward to being a part of Miami’s emerging tech scene and to having an impact in the lives of underrepresented high schoolers. We have already worked with more than 350 students in New York, the Bay Area, and Washington, D.C. Now we’ll expand that number through our work in Miami.
  • Article

    Charlotte Ballet: an ever changing work of art

    Published April 28, 2014 by

    After 44 years, the North Carolina Dance Theatre sheds its cumbersome name in lieu of a more concise and appropriate appellation: Charlotte Ballet! Announced at the opening of Dwight Rhoden’s “Othello” on April 24th, the change in name was met with raucous cheers and applause. Officially, the new name went...
  • Article

    Hard questions for writers

    Published April 28, 2014 by

    By Kira Obolensky, Ten Thousand Things Writers are often asked impossible questions. We might nod when we hear an impossible question. We might shrug or mumble an incoherent answer or remark upon the question-asker’s spiffy shoes. Impossible questions are almost always connected to the source of the creative work at...
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    Nurturing South Florida’s social entrepreneurs

    Published April 28, 2014 by

    Miami : Open : Source, a 2013 Knight Arts Challenge winner, has been granted co-working space and mentorship services at the Center for Social Change in Coral Gables as we raise funds, connect to partners and refine our business strategy. Our project seeks to cultivate the use of technology in the arts to ultimately benefit underrepresented communities. We seek to do this through a community space for South Florida’s design and technology-based art community to come together, hack and build projects, while offering a range of equipment to help artists create their work. Bill Burdette and Lauren Harper, co-founders of the Center for Social Change, envision the space as a collision point for Miami : Open : Source and other like-minded social enterprises and nonprofits. I’ve seen real impact in a short time, which includes business strategy consulting from the Center for Social Change; loan advice from Marjorie Weber of SCORE; and community partnership from Rudy Sablon of The Motivational Edge, another Knight Arts Challenge winner.
  • Article

    Knight internship immerses students, new graduates in real-world innovation

    Published April 28, 2014 by

    Knight Foundation’s summer internship program is currently accepting applications.  The foundation offers competitive internships in a variety of program areas that work to promote informed and engaged communities. Below, Romina Herrera, who interned at Knight in the summer of 2013, shares highlights of her experience and offers advice to those seeking an internship at the foundation. You graduated with a digital media major in December 2013 from Florida International University. What are you doing now? R.H.: I’m working at an agency in Miami called Cause Populi. We offer marketing, branding and social media support to a variety of nonprofits. I’m the project manager, so I delegate what needs to be done for different clients and help get campaigns off and running. We work with different types of organizations, from adoption agencies to disability community centers and more. I originally freelanced for the company doing design work and was recently hired full time. How did you first hear about Knight Foundation’s internship program? RELATED LINK "Knight internship unveils a network of opportunity" by Elizabeth R. Miller on KnightBlog.org R.H. Through the internship counselor at Florida International University where I was a student. She was familiar with my portfolio and thought that I would be a great fit for the program. What did you study in school? Was it useful for your experience at Knight? R.H. I received my associate’s degree in graphic design from Miami Dade College. When I transferred to FIU, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do; I had interests in a lot of things, like education, arts and advertising. Then I found out its School of Journalism and Mass Communication had created a digital media major and it was a perfect combination of all my interests. It was sort of an experimental program, but I got to learn as I went and I really enjoyed that. My background in graphic design and that notion of experimentation were important for my work at Knight on “Searchlights and Sunglasses.” What was your experience like working on the digital e-book “Searchlights and Sunglasses?” R.H.: When I arrived at Knight, Eric Newton, the book’s author, already had the written materials ready and had started a prototype of the website with a designer. When it got to the production stage, I helped to test the site as a beta user and added in missing content and links. I also worked directly with the designers and Knight Creative Director Eric Schoenborn to figure out what sorts of updates we could incorporate into the book. When the site was finished, I attended the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in Washington, D.C., to demo it and get feedback from people about what they found most useful with the resource.
  • Article

    #ThisIsWhere

    Published April 28, 2014 by

    Poetry is a kind of geography. It is a map that places us and reminds us of the past–of memories stuck in our subconscious. #ThisIsWhere _____________ is a WLRN + O, Miami poetry contest that encourages all South Floridians to write a poem about a place that is meaningful to...
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    An AIRIE experience by Dana Levy

    Published April 27, 2014 by

    By Dana Levy, AIRIE Every morning of the first week of my residency in the Everglades National park, I got into my rental car and drove to a different part of the park: the 1st day I rode a bike around shark valley, the 2nd day I kayaked at Flamingo,...
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    Mainly Mozart and much more arrives in Miami

    Published April 25, 2014 by

    By Sebastian Spreng, Visual Artist and Classical Music Writer Here’s a riddle. What’s new but came of age a long time ago, bears the name of a composer but includes the work of others, is always held on Sunday but sometimes on Saturday, marks the end of the classical music...