• Article

    MIAMI SOUP to feed local appetite for social good

    Published April 15, 2014 by

    Knight Foundation supports MIAMI SOUP to share ideas and build connections among South Florida’s community of creatives, makers, doers and entrepreneurs. Below, Carl Hildebrand, director of MIAMI SOUP, writes about launching the project. Above: Detroit Soup. Photo credit Dave Lewinski. MIAMI SOUP is coming to South Florida to feed ideas in social innovation one dinner at a time.  The Soup concept, now in more than 90 cities, combines the best of the eating philosophies of Slow Food with the fundraising approach of Kickstarter. It was developed by Chicago-based InCUBATE, a research group dedicated to exploring new approaches to arts administration and arts funding.  With the support of Knight Foundation, we’ll host dinners here in South Florida—consisting of soup, salad and bread—while people gather around the table to hear proposals from individuals and civic and creative groups about improving our neighborhoods. We’ll hold a dinner about every two months, with the first one scheduled for May 1.
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    Don’t miss Sweatstock 5 Saturday, April 19

    Published April 15, 2014 by

    By Lauren Reskin, Sweat Records This Saturday, April 19th head out to Sweatstock #5! It’s a free, all ages block party/pop-up music festival celebrating Sweat Records’ 9-year anniversary and Record Store Day 2014. Doors open at 9am for the Record Store Day exclusive releases. At 2pm the Awesome Foundation Street...
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    FIU grad P. Scott Cunningham profiled in FIU Magazine

    Published April 15, 2014 by

    O, Miami founder, Knight Arts grantee and FIU grad P. Scott Cunningham is profiled in this month's FIU Magazine. "The invitation, in true P. Scott Cunningham style, was irresistible," writes author Dan Grech. "He’s throwing an “old-fashioned book party” in honor of poet Adrian Matejka, and you’re invited. If you...
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    Yo-Yo Ma wows, performs with Detroit students

    Published April 14, 2014 by

    Fox 2 News Headlines “This is the most important thing I could possibly do,” - Cellist Yo-Yo Ma to FOX , on his visit to a Detroit elementary school. A day after performing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma joined former New York City Ballet principal dancer Damian Woetzel...
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    How Knight endowments advance journalism excellence

    Published April 14, 2014 by

    Knight Foundation’s journalism and media innovation team gets much well-deserved attention for its media innovation work. Less discussed, but no less important, is the education of thousands of students and professionals each year through $200 million in endowed programs Knight has built over several decades to advance journalism excellence. There are dozens of Knight-endowed chair and mid-career training programs. Since most of that work occurs at universities, I’ve also added some context—an analysis of 25 years of Knight’s journalism and media grantmaking to universities. The Knight Chair program – 25 chairs at 22 universities – welcomed a new chair this month and four other new chairs this past year. They are: Dana Priest in national security journalism at the University of Maryland; Bill Adair in computational journalism at Duke University; John Affleck in sports journalism and society at Pennsylvania State University; Aly Colón in journalism ethics at Washington & Lee University; and Eric Freedman in environmental journalism at Michigan State University. There are currently two chair vacancies, one at Florida A&M University and the other at the University of Miami.
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    Turning Miami into a hip poetry hub

    Published April 14, 2014 by

    P. Scott Cunningham/ Credit: James Harris The following profile of P. Scott Cunningham is crossposted from FIU Magazine By Dan Grech The invitation, in true P. Scott Cunningham style, was irresistible. He’s throwing an “old-fashioned book party” in honor of poet Adrian Matejka, and you’re invited....
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    A season for growing ideas in St. Paul

    Published April 14, 2014 by

    Mural by Dimm Media on Señor Wong's Restaurant in downtown Saint Paul created as a part of the Irrigate project, photo courtesy Springboard for the Arts. The calendar may say it’s spring, but we Minnesotans know it is not yet advisable to put away our boots or snow shovels. Just 10 days ago, I found 5 inches of new snow on my car—argh! Despite the fact that our daffodils aren’t peeking above the ground yet, there is other new growth sprouting. And Knight is very much at the center of this.  This week marks the opening of the Knight Arts Challenge in St. Paul. Through May 5, everyone is encouraged to submit innovative ideas at knightarts.org. The criteria are simple: The idea has to be about the arts; it has to take place in or benefit St. Paul; and you will have to find funding to match the grant if you win. Your initial idea only has to be a maximum of 150 words; there’s no long, formal proposal just to find out if your idea is competitive.  The Knight Arts Challenge is a wonderful example of how Knight maximizes its impact as a national foundation with deep local roots. The Knight Arts Challenge has been very successful in three other Knight communities—Detroit, Miami and Philadelphia—and now it’s coming here, to grow in the fertile soil of St. Paul.
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    Real men, don’t act this way

    Published April 14, 2014 by

    Classical ballet is a language that I didn't get. I struggled to find relevance in an excruciatingly hetero-normative and patriarchal art form where a woman is forced (trained) to effortlessly transport herself across a stage on her tippy-toes and perform painful superwoman leaps and landings with a giant smile on...
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    Amplify the business side of your artistic talent

    Published April 14, 2014 by

    Macon Arts Alliance logo. Many artists have coined their talents as an exclusive hobby. Meanwhile, others realize they can generate worthwhile income from their artistry. Amplify is an initiative formed to teach creative individuals and organizations how to make money with their abilities. The Macon Arts...
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    Inside American Composers Forum’s expansive new NextNotes program for high school-aged musicians

    Published April 14, 2014 by

    American Composers Forum's newly launched NextNotes High School Composition Awards is noteworthy simply as a national contest dedicated to recognizing teenaged composers. Knight Foundation is the founding sponsor of NextNotes. When asked about the larger rationale for such a contest, Suzanna Altman, ACF's Director of Education and Community Engagement, notes...
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    Walker West breaks ground at 760 Selby

    Published April 13, 2014 by

    By Petter Leggett, Walker West Music Academy On March 18, Walker West Music Academy held a wall-breaking ceremony at 760 Selby Avenue to kick-off construction of the Academy's new home. Joining in the ceremony were Academy co-founders Rev. Carl Walker and Grant West, Academy faculty members, administrative staff, board members,...
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    Data journalism site InfoAmazonia will add ground reporting to its environmental coverage

    Published April 11, 2014 by

    Photo credit: Flickr user Zach Lee. The following is crossposted from ijnet.org. Environmental news site InfoAmazonia, which pioneered using satellite data for reporting, is adding a new source to its coverage: observations from the ground. The site will gather and share information from people living and working in the Amazon, including “indigenous communities, researchers, NGOs, students and engaged citizens acting on social media,” said Brazil-based data journalist Gustavo Faleiros, who founded the site. These reports will show how “data from satellites in the sky relates to the reality on the ground.” “The perspective from human observation [will add] to the precision of the data provided by satellite,” said Faleiros, who leads InfoAmazonia as part of his ICFJ Knight International Journalism Fellowship. “We believe that bringing citizen information to the platform will add depth and context to data we obtain by remote sensing.” For example, when InfoAmazonia updates its map of deforestation in the region with fresh satellite data, communities in the affected regions can verify the new information and help explain it. “Satellites do see a lot of things, but they do not tell you the reasons why an area of forest has been cleared,” Faleiros said. Is it “now being used for cattle ranching or mining? You can guess based on your experience, but the real story, the characters involved, the human dimension will emerge from the ground reporting.” To make it happen, InfoAmazonia is partnering with NGOs in the nine countries of the Amazon rainforest region. The crowdsourcing initiative has financial support from the Avina and Skoll foundations. Together, they are donating US$114,000 for InfoAmazonia to build applications that enable citizen reporting, data sharing and fact checking.