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    A community vision for St. Paul

    Published March 21, 2014 by

    Photo credit: Flickr user Joey Lax-Salinas. We are at an exciting moment in St. Paul. There are less than 84 days until the new Green Line light rail service begins on June 14. This is a moment I have been anticipating for more than seven years, but I know others have been waiting for decades. Already the trains are being tested along the line, which will run between St. Paul and Minneapolis, past the state Capitol, the University of Minnesota and other colleges and schools, hospitals and health care clinics, more than a thousand small businesses, and dozens of neighborhoods. I get goose bumps every time I see a train go by, and not just because of our frigid temperatures. Why has this light rail line become so important to me, this community and Knight Foundation? This billion-dollar infrastructure investment is a once-in-a-century opportunity to transform a city—to create stronger businesses, more vibrant neighborhoods and more beautiful urban spaces—along the spine of St. Paul, also referred to as the Central Corridor in the city’s master plan. But even more important, the ripples of this work can be felt throughout the region, and across the country. The light rail line has become a national model for how philanthropy can capitalize on major transit investments to create “corridors of opportunity” for small businesses and residents to attract both private development and young professionals who are especially eager to live near transit and thriving business districts that celebrate culture and diversity.  
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    Enthralling Detroit documentaries at Freep Film Festival

    Published March 21, 2014 by

    Through Sunday, March 23rd, the Freep Film Festival will be screening films at both the Fillmore Detroit and the Detroit Film Theatre (located at the Detroit Institute of Arts). The festival, sponsored by Detroit’s hometown newspaper, the Detroit Free Press, began with a Thursday night showing of Packard: The Last...
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    Oscar Celma, thinking about Miami and the future of Music

    Published March 21, 2014 by

    Above: Oscar Celma. Photo credit: Flickr user Thomas Bonte. Demian Bellumio is COO of Senzari, a digital music company, and a partner at MIA Collective, which is hosting the MIA Music Summit, a slate of events March 22-24 that brings together leaders from the music industry with Miami’s emerging startup community. He recently asked a few questions of Oscar Celma, a judge of the MIA Music HackDay and one of the speakers for the summit, about what the gathering means for Miami and the music industry. Celma is the new director of research at Pandora and a former senior research engineer at Gracenote. He also served as chief innovation officer at Barcelona Music and Audio Technologies (BMAT). Knight Foundation supports the summit, which will feature events at New World Center in Miami Beach and The LAB Miami in Wynwood.  First of all, congratulations on the exciting news that you just joined Pandora as director of research.   O.C.: Thank you very much! I’m really excited about my new gig at Pandora. How do you think this new role will compare with your experience working at BMAT and Gracenote? O.C.: Well, I’d say the main difference is that both BMAT and Gracenote are B2B companies, whilst Pandora is B2C. I learned a lot at BMAT, as we were just a few people when I started back in 2008. It’s awesome to be part of a small startup and see how it grows and becomes a mature company after all these years. I’m so happy to see that they are doing so well right now, given the current [economic] situation in Spain. At Gracenote, a much larger organization, I learned how to effectively interact and work with people from different departments. I left so many friends at Gracenote, but I’m sure we’ll be in touch for a beer or two every now and then because I’m still an [Oaklander] Now, my new position at Pandora is like a dream come true. This role combines both my background as a scientist and engineer/manager. Also being able to work with a group of very talented and smart scientists is so gratifying. Last but not least, B2C is just another world; you really focus on your users, and try to improve the product day by day to provide them a better experience. As a speaker at MIA Music Summit’s “Big Data and Music” panel, can you give us a preview on what you hope to discuss on it? O.C.: I think that we’re still in the early stages of really exploiting and making a smart use of music big data. Till now we have mainly focused on the technologies and tools to process all this information. Still, we haven’t got that far in mining this vast amount of data and extract relevant and meaningful information from it. In principle, more and more data is always welcome, but we need to apply the science and models to extract some conclusions, which can be difficult sometimes. I hope that we can also devote some time to discuss about the future of big data and its impact in the music domain. All in all, I’m sure it will be an interesting panel for most of the MIA attendees!
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    What Digital Media Literacy Day means to Charlotte

    Published March 21, 2014 by

    Above: A class at the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte. Photo credit: Knight Foundation on Flickr. The James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte is unlike the nation’s other 500 journalism and mass communications programs: We have taken on the role of helping raise the digital media literacy rate in our community. One of the ways we keep this on the mind of our community is through an annual Digital Media Literacy Day, on which our mayor and county commissioners recognize the importance of digital media skills in 21st century America. Today, on the second annual Digital Media Literacy Day, the Knight School is partnering with Ashley Park Elementary School, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district, One Laptop Per Child, Mobile Beacon and EveryoneOn to provide digital access and support for parents and Ashley Park students. Knight School students and faculty are spending the day at Ashley Park with parents, to assess their technology needs. Mobile Beacon is donating 100 modems and is providing free in-home Internet access for the remainder of the school year to participating families. Knight Foundation, in support of Project LIFT, has already paired students with laptop computers designed by One Laptop Per Child. 
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    Postcards and play connect communities in Macon, Ga.

    Published March 21, 2014 by

    Photo credit: Molly McWilliams Wilkins Artist Hunter Franks kicked off his Creative Interventions Tour in Macon, Ga., last week, the first stop on a swing through Knight communities to use creativity to build connections among residents. With the support of Knight Foundation, Franks plans to spend three weeks in Macon, with plans to continue the tour in Akron, Ohio; Philadelphia; and Detroit later this year. RELATED LINK "Breaking down social barriers with stories: The Creative Interventions Tour in Macon, Ga." by Hunter Franks on KnightBlog.org Franks founded the League of Creative Interventionists in January as a global network “to break down social barriers and build community through creativity.” The first chapter is in San Francisco, where Franks is based. “All the cities have class and racial division. This is to get people talking to each other,” Franks said. The first project on the current tour is Love Letters to Macon. Franks plans to take postcards he has made to different locations and events in Macon. He will ask people to complete the cards and describe why they love their neighborhoods. The postcards will then be randomly mailed to someone in another neighborhood; each person will be invited to a potluck cookout at the end of the program to meet the person who received their postcard, he said. Franks was inspired to start the project through his past position as community manager at the Office of Civic Innovation in the San Francisco mayor’s office. “There’s a quote that I love, from [Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi] Adichie, which says, ‘The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.’ We set out to tell the rest of the story, taken from one neighborhood and mailed randomly to someone in another neighborhood,” said Franks. Each league chapter will meet once a month and consider a theme. This month it’s play, and as a part of that effort, Love Letters to Macon came to Lunch Beat Macon, a networking event that features music and dancing, on March 13. A table was set up inside the 567, a local nonprofit that assists new startups, so that people could complete postcards as they were arriving and leaving. “Everyone loves snail mail, when it’s not junk mail or bills. Rarely do we receive mail—let alone a postcard—from someone in our own town,” said local artist Heidi Clinte. “What a pleasant surprise to find in your mailbox! A fresh reminder of why your hometown rocks!”
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    Breaking down social barriers with stories: The Creative Interventions Tour in Macon, Ga.

    Published March 21, 2014 by

    Hunter Franks, an artist and founder of the Neighborhood Postcard Project and League of Creative Interventionists, is in Macon, Ga., for three weeks using creativity to build community with Knight Foundation support. Photo credit: Hunter Franks. Towering Corinthian columns stare down at me. It’s the first thing most people notice when they come to Macon. Gorgeous buildings are abundant in a city filled with rich history. Humans have inhabited this area for 17,000 years. Little Richard and the Allman Brothers called Macon home. But this city also faces a lot of challenges. Massive divides exist between socioeconomic levels. Poverty and blight are all too familiar.     RELATED LINK "Postcards and play connect communities in Macon, Ga." by Molly McWilliams Wilkins on KnightBlog.org  I spent most of my first week here exploring and understanding the fabric of Macon. A lot of people love Macon and have embraced the challenges. I’ve felt the energy that is moving Macon toward a thriving, inclusive and resilient community. And I have been able to be a part of it — to add to the conversation and to insert lightweight, spontaneous activities that bring new voices to the conversation. The goal for my three weeks in Macon is to inspire and enable more Maconites to use creativity to build the Macon they want to see. To start a conversation between all of Macon, not just certain neighborhoods or networks. The first activity we did was begin the Macon Neighborhood Postcard Project, a storytelling exchange to build community. Residents fill out a postcard with a personal positive story of their neighborhood and that postcard is then mailed to a random person in a different neighborhood to create connections between people and communities. The goal is to break down stereotypes and create a lightweight way for residents from different neighborhoods to learn about each other. Both the sender and random recipient of the postcard are invited to a potluck at the end of the month giving them the chance to meet in person. We will post all of the love notes to neighborhoods on the exterior of the building, giving some love and appreciation to a building that sees little of it.  
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    A new performing arts venue

    Published March 20, 2014 by

    Libraries are often quite and studious spaces; sometimes they are venues for community engagement, and certainly they are conduits of information. But rarely do they become spaces for the performing arts, and yet this is exactly what Charlotte-Mecklenburg residents have been experiencing this March in their community libraries through the...
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    Motivational Edge motivates Miami youth through the arts

    Published March 20, 2014 by

    Photo credit: Maicol Diaz of Unique Photography and Design. Rudy Sablon is director of programs for The Motivational Edge, a nonprofit that uses the arts to inspire youth towards academic achievement, increased self-confidence and building essential life skills. Below, he writes about a lyrical expression and audio recording program, which is receiving $50,000 in new support from Knight Foundation. Most kids can’t wait for their summer and spring breaks; they’re itching to get out of school and into the world. But when that world lacks basic resources—such as food, shelter and safety—these breaks can be the scariest time of year. Research has shown that if at-risk teenagers are going to find trouble it will be in the hours after school, when they’re trying to find ways to occupy their time. In addition to delinquency, aggressive or violent behavior and substance abuse, teenagers living in low-income, diverse areas wrestle with the additional factors of living with families dealing with poverty, hunger and language and cultural barriers. In specific, the Allapattah region of Miami-Dade County has the sad distinction of having rates of crime and poverty that are higher than the community average. “A lot of these youth have nothing to do after school,” said CEO Ian Welsch, founder of The Motivational Edge, which uses the arts to promote high-quality instruction and learning for students in all disciplines. “Having meaningful, engaging activities are imperative in order to keep kids off the streets and safe.” Through many constructive programs and services offered by The Motivational Edge, a good number of those teens can have not only a safe haven when school’s out, but something meaningful to do once they get there. This spring break, March 24-28, The Motivational Edge will do just that by keeping their doors open for youths ages 5-18 in the Allapattah, Brownsville and Liberty City areas of Miami.
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    Detroit steps into spring with the Marche du Nain Rouge

    Published March 20, 2014 by

    Photo credit: Dante Stella.  Francis Grunow is the organizer of Marche du Nain Rouge, an annual festival and parade supported by Knight Foundation, planned for Sunday, March 23, in Detroit. Imagine more than 4,000 revelers coming together on the streets of Detroit, dressed in the spirit of raw, creative energy to shake off the long winter’s doldrums and celebrate the renewal of spring. Kids come as dragons riding in wagons. There are pirates, priests, fairies, devils, steampunks and assorted monsters. Couples come matching, as two sides of a piece of surreal artwork. Troupes come coordinated, as monopoly pieces and animal crackers, and on decorated bikes and themed chariots. Fife and drum corps intersperse among the crowd along with New Orleans-inspired bands.  All sorts of folks come out in anticipation of the Nain Rouge, and the opportunity to join in the Marche du Nain Rouge, a growing tradition in the heart of Midtown Detroit. Based on a tale of folklore from Detroit’s earliest days as a French settlement, the Marche is a playful and participatory art parade that calls on Detroiters to come together to stand up to the Nain Rouge (red dwarf), a malevolent mythological creature that represents all things holding the city back. Each year on the Sunday following the vernal equinox, the cycle repeats: The Nain Rouge appears in one location to taunt Detroit. Then costumed participants follow the Nain on a one-mile march, and are finally victorious with a catharsis ceremony in Cass Park. Like similar events encouraging people to experience a neighborhood or city, the Marche du Nain Rouge creates a positive sense of place in Detroit, by connecting people through art and the city’s history to a historic neighborhood, the Cass Corridor. The district’s assets, public spaces, small businesses, shops, restaurants and bars are also featured as a way of further building community. Many local businesses host events and have special offers this week, from offering exclusive themed T-shirt designs, to food and drink specials in honor of the Marche, such as the “El Diablito” pizza, the “Sangre Del Nain” drink, Creole beans and rice, and an annual crawfish boil.
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    Zoetic Stage launches premiere by Miami playwright

    Published March 19, 2014 by

    By Kerry Shiller, Zoetic Stage This week, Zoetic Stage opens its fifth world-premiere production, Clark Gable Slept Here, a Hollywood satire by award-winning playwright Michael McKeever (who talks about the play in the above video.) Directed by Zoetic Stage’s artistic director Stuart Meltzer and starring Carbonell Award winners Michael McKeever...