• Article

    “Moscow” in March

    Published March 15, 2012 by

    We live in Miami. By the ocean. We know tides and waves are fickle and that we shouldn’t turn our backs on the sea. In 1962, Miami — and the United States as a whole — was in flux. Especially momentous for Miami and its sizeable Cuban population were the...
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    Video explores Google Books Library project

    Published March 15, 2012 by

      Some 15 million books have been scanned and made at least partially available immediately to someone walking into a library or searching on the web, as a result of the Google Books Library Project. “Libraries are no longer limited in what they can make available to their patrons by what can fit within the four walls of their libraries,” says James Crawford, engineering director at Google Books. The project fits within Google’s larger mission of organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible and useful. In the video above, Crawford describes what he believes this at times controversial project brings to community libraries, and talks about what other Google products might benefit the library community, including Google Scholar and Google +.  
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    More recipes for success of nonprofit news ventures

    Published March 14, 2012 by

      The latest cookbook for nonprofit news ventures comes today from the Investigative News Network, supported by Knight, is an eclectic mix of big, small, old, new, national, local, digital, print, neutral and progressive nonprofit news organizations. As you might expect, its recipes for success are as varied as sushi and Boston baked beans. The white paper, Audience Development and Distribution Strategies, was written by digital news expert Elizabeth Osder. It is similar to our earlier reports on nonprofit news success, but also offers new advice, excellent context and fresh views from the nonprofit news leaders themselves. Its thrust:  the story is not the only thing that matters in news. Explains Margie Freigvogel, editor of the St. Louis Beacon: “We started with a passion for journalism coming out of a newspaper background and we found ourselves running a business and technology enterprise.” The Beacon started in 2008 to create “a better St. Louis powered by journalism” and is still going strong. These folks are, in my mind, heroes. Many started their new digital news ventures just in the past five years, as print newspapers have been shrinking and a lack of creative change in public broadcasting has so far failed to fill the gap. These new news leaders really care about informed and engaged communities.  Suddenly, through their own web sites and their traditional media partners, they are reaching many millions of people. Someone should add up that number: It’s big.
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    MOCAD looks ahead to summer 2012

    Published March 14, 2012 by

    By Kelli Kavanaugh, MOCAD As our exciting winter season progresses, MOCAD looks ahead to summer with a Call for Submissions for Post Industrial Complex, an in-depth survey of contemporary small-scale fabrication and creative service development within the city of Detroit, celebrating the vitality and necessity of the art and industry...
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    Mary Griep brings centuries-old sacred spaces to life

    Published March 14, 2012 by

    Standing before one of Mary Griep’s mixed-media drawings in the “Anastylosis” series, the viewer cannot but be overwhelmed. Through a series of piecemeal sketches and lavish, elaborate collages, she reproduces some of the world’s most magnificent holy sites dating from the medieval period, from the 10th to 12th centuries C.E....
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    Funf wins SXSW Accelerator Competition in News Related Technologies track

    Published March 14, 2012 by

    A visualization of Funf. Design: Cody Sumter Last night, Funf, an open sensing framework, won the 2012 SXSW Accelerator Competition for the News Related Technology track. Funf, which launched in October, explores how mobile phones can be used as sensor platforms to track the location, movement, app activity and extended networks of its users and communities. With Funf, users can contribute anonymously to creating data sets for themselves and their communities. For example, during a disaster, Funf would use the data from the sensing networks in people's cellphones to create real-time maps of which roads are clear or blocked, where there is a cell phone outage and where people are trapped. Funf also collects data about the surrounding environment,  including levels of light, pressure and temperature. Researchers may be able to predict small changes in individuals’ behavior - like changes in sleeping and waking patterns and communications - that could have important implications for predicting diseases. Collected data can be measured by the Funf framework and configured in a variety of ways, including in data visualizations, notifications and other applications. Knight Foundation, a sponsor of the Accelerator Competition, sat down to interview key members of the Funf team - Nadav Aharony, Alan Gardner and Cody Sumter - to learn what winning the competition meant for them and what’s next for the project.
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    Virtuoso + veteran

    Published March 14, 2012 by

    The Akron Symphony Orchestra’s music director, Christopher Wilkins, has a knack for spotting important talent on the rise. Pianist Yuja Wang performed in Akron just as her international career was gaining traction. Now, violin-lovers won’t want to miss a program on Saturday, March 17, featuring the rising young violinist Chad...
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    KnightArts.org celebrates 2,000 posts

    Published March 13, 2012 by

    This week we hit 2,000 posts on KnightArts.org! We also recently reached 3,500,000 page views and over 850,000 visitors. None of this would be possible without so many of our grantees and bloggers making a commitment to connect each of us to their communities and the unlimited amount of cultural...
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    inkub8 2012 update

    Published March 13, 2012 by

    By inkub8 staff inkub8 announces its 2012 Artists in Residence Shaneeka Harrell Niurca Marquez Alexey Taran (ERE Bistoury) Antonia Wright The inkub8 (open-studio) Residency Program, a four-week residency in Miami’s Wynwood arts district that offers time, space, and a modest stipend in exchange for artists teaching classes and exhibiting works....