• Article

    “42: A Stonewall Prospective”

    Published June 2, 2011 by

    On June 28, 2011, 42 years after the Stonewall riots, Pioneer Winter and Jared Sharon will present "42: A Stonewall Prospective," a live multi-disciplinary dance performance that combines film and large-scale props to recall the events leading to the uprising and violent protests which ignited the modern-day gay civil rights...
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    A Charlotte Random Act of Culture® blitz

    Published June 1, 2011 by

    By Aaron Fiedler, Arts & Science Council With the help of the North Carolina Dance Theatre, the Arts & Science Council (ASC) led a Random Act of Culture® blitz the last two weeks of May that brought a little culture to Center City Charlotte and beyond. [caption id="attachment_18376" align="aligncenter" width="600"...
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    Random Acts of Culture™ arrives in Saint Paul

    Published June 1, 2011 by

    By Brian Woods, The Schubert Club—a member of The Arts Partnership On Thursday, May 26, 2011, downtown Saint Paul office workers and residents were surprised by Random Acts of Culture™ in the city’s skyway system. The Arts Partnership enlisted the talents of two guitarists, winners of The Schubert Club’s Bruce...
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    New impunity index: Iraq, Somalia and the Philippines most dangerous for journalists

    Published June 1, 2011 by

    By Amy Starlight Lawrence and Jon Sotsky The Committee to Protect Journalists released its annual Impunity Index today, which details the 13 most dangerous countries for journalists. The report highlights countries where journalists are murdered and their governments are unable or unwilling to bring the killers to justice.  The impunity rate calculated by CPJ is a metric based on the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of the population. Iraq tops the list for the fourth year running, and Mexico’s rating has worsened for the third consecutive year.  CPJ believes that there have been improvements in Russia, where a number of unsolved murder cases were reopened by officials. CPJ battles impunity using several approaches including research, advocacy, field-building and financial assistance to journalists and their families. The report provides insights about global impunity trends and in particular that “prior threats against a journalist are powerful indicators of violence to come. More than 40 percent of the victims in this index had received threats prior to being killed.” Knight Foundation has supported CPJ’s impunity campaign, with an emphasis on its work in Russia and the Philippines.
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    Media innovation projects: Legal structure matters

    Published June 1, 2011 by

    Knight News Challenge finalists have great ideas to speed media innovation. However, like all entrepreneurs and innovators, they need to create an organization that has a legal structure in order to develop their ideas. Deciding how to incorporate a media innovation or online publishing project is important. The legal structure will have an impact on the organization's liability for defamation and other claims. It will also have an impact on the organization's tax obligations, its assets and its management. Many of Knight Foundation’s journalism and media innovation grantees have structured their operations as nonprofits. Some examples include Spot.us, DocumentCloud, ProPublica, Voice of San Diego, Texas Tribune and Bay Citizen. However, a 501 (c)(3) is not for everyone. Other grantees have chosen to incorporate as for-profit companies, like NowSpots and Front Porch Forum. Choosing the best legal structure is not easy; there are many considerations that need to be taken into account. Here are two useful resources that might help you figure out the best structure for your start-up: For Love or Lucre by Jim Fruchterman, published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. How to decide: nonprofit vs. for-profit [SLIDES] by Ben Wirz, Knight Foundation’s Director of Business Consulting. You can learn more about how to set-up the legal framework for your organization on the Creating a Business page on the Citizen Media Law Project Web site. If you prefer one business structure over another, please tell us why and comment below. And look out for the announcement of the 2011 News Challenge winners on June 22.
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    Grounded art of the uprooted

    Published May 31, 2011 by

    There could be no better name for an exhibit taking place in Miami than "Uprooted/Transmigrations," which just went up at Pan American Art Projects. There also might not be a better opportunity to see some of the most important...
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    Investigative reports by The Lens lead to City of New Orleans investigation

    Published May 31, 2011 by

    Gloria's restaurant in Gert Town, 2007 photo by http://nova-in-nola.blogspot.com. The City of New Orleans Inspector General is probing a local nonprofit organization following a series of investigative articles published by The Lens, a Knight Community Information Challenge grant winner. According to The Lens, the financial documentation for the Gert Town Revival Initiative is quite incomplete — and too much of the $404,000 it received to revitalize the area may have gone to the salary of organization's president—and to rent on the building that houses both her home and officers for the organization. The Inspector General's office says it’s now in the process of obtaining documents from the city to determine whether GRI committed any wrongdoing in how it spent the hundreds of thousands of dollars —and The Lens was the trigger for both greater oversight by the city and the new investigation. City officials first announced they were scheduling a monitoring visit of the organization after The Lens published its original story, with a follow-up story days later. The Knight Community Information Challenge encourages community foundations to fund news and information projects that inform and engage communities. The Lens is funded through the Greater New Orleans Foundation.
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    You’ve got film!

    Published May 31, 2011 by

    In another sign of Miami’s emergence as a cultural beachhead, it suddenly has 5, count’em, 5 independent cinemas! In the last few months the community has seen the Knight-funded O’Cinema open in Wynwood, Miami Beach Cinematheque reopen in their brand new home in old City Hall and Coral Gables Cinematheque...
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    Art that’s barely there at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit

    Published May 31, 2011 by

    “Barely There (Part I)” opened last weekend at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. It’s the first installment in a two-part show that investigates “immateriality, presence, absence and performance.” "Part I" focuses on the mind, specifically on subjects like loss, geographic/linguistic identity and the power of questions. ("Part II," opening...
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    Flamenco’s Jewish roots

    Published May 31, 2011 by

    Ilisa Rosal, founder of Ballet Flamenco la Rosa, discusses her upcoming demonstration/lecture on different aspects of flamenco and its connection to Judaism as part of the monthly Guava Rugelach Lounge series, presented by downtown Miami cultural center Next @ 19th. A spin-off of the annual Guava Rugelach Festival, which takes...
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    The evolution of another neighborhood

    Published May 30, 2011 by

    At any given time in Charlotte there is always some interesting art event happening. Many of the areas in which these events happen are pockets of transformation, often a metamorphosis stemming from the early vision and work of artists. South End is yet another example of this phenomenon. Some years...
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    Out of the white cube

    Published May 27, 2011 by

    When you first walk through the doors of Dimensions Variable for the latest show, "Series 5 —Marcos Valella," white overwhelms you. The walls and the floor are whitewashed, and the seven evenly spaced and hung paintings are splattered...
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    The “Gathering of the Herd” at Work Detroit

    Published May 27, 2011 by

    There’s a wonderful show in Midtown’s Work Detroit gallery that is a testament to the imagination and talent of the area's youth and the community outreach efforts of local learning institutions. “The Gathering of the Herd” features an inspired assortment of baby elephants fashioned out of a wide variety of...
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    Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra featured on WPBT2

    Published May 26, 2011 by

    By Julia Berg, Frost School of Music The University of Miami Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra was televised May 12, 2011 on WPBT2’s premiere broadcast of An Evening with Dave Grusin, (also available on CD, Blu-ray Disc and ROBA iPad App), a groundbreaking live program that captures...