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    ‘Knight Cities’ podcast: Prototype Festival hacks traditional methods of city planning

    Published April 29, 2015 by

    Joy. Play. Whimsy. Those are words not often used to describe city planning and the associated public engagement it usually requires. But with its Market Street Prototyping Festival, San Francisco inverted the traditional planning model and turned its main street into a canvas for testing ideas submitted by citizens. The result, on display for three days in early April, was a collection of 52 passion projects up and down Market Street that the public could experience and play with. Neil Hrushowy, program director with the City Design Group, led the effort for the City and County of San Francisco Planning Department. Here are five things you should know about my conversation with Neil.
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    FUNDarte’s Out in the Tropics Festival 2015

    Published April 29, 2015 by

    The 2015 Out in the Tropics Festival, produced by FUNDarte, a Knight Arts grantee, runs from Tuesday, May 5th through Saturday, May 9th. The festival features work from innovative local, national and international GLBTQ artists, including Chely Lima, M. Lamar, Marga Gomez, Caridad Svich and John Moletress. M. Lamar. Photo by Michael Benabib. The festival opens on May 5th at 7 p.m. with an LGBTQ community panel and reception at the LGBT Visitor Center on Miami Beach. The panel, which is free and open to the public, is one my favorite events of the festival because it offers the community the opportunity to communicate and connect with the artists. On Wednesday, May 6th, poet Chely Lima will share work from his latest book, Urano Purpura, a collection of previously unpublished poems that narrates the complexity of the author's experiences living as a trans and bisexual man.
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    Finnish Violin Sensation Pekka Kuusisto to become SPCO’s newest artistic partner

    Published April 29, 2015 by

    Following up on the recent appointments of Jeremy Denk, Martin Fröst, and Patricia Kopatchinskaja, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is thrilled to announce today that Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto will become one of our Artistic Partners. Pekka is no stranger to Minnesota, having thrilled SPCO and Schubert Club audiences in recent seasons. To get a taste of Pekka’s virtuosity and imagination, below are some media clips from the SPCO’s Listening Library and YouTube. Pekka Kuusisto, photo by Kaapo Kamu. Pekka Kuusisto is internationally renowned as both soloist and director, and for his fresh approach to classical repertoire. An advocate of new music, Kuusisto regularly works with contemporary composers such as Nico Muhly, Thomas Adès and Bryce Dessner. He frequently directs ensembles from the violin, including the Mahler, Australian, and Irish Chamber orchestras in addition to the SPCO.  
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    Civic technology needs community engagement in order to work

    Published April 29, 2015 by

      Experimental Modes Convening at The Chicago Trust on April 4. Photo by Daniel X O'Neil on Flickr. This post is one in a series on what four community and place-based foundations are learning by funding media projects that help to meet their local information needs. All are funded through the Knight Community Information Challenge. Perhaps a reason that civic tech has not yet found a prominent place within many community and place-based foundations is the emphasis on "technology." Would civic tech grow faster if "civic engagement" with people were a bigger, more visible part of the process of using and developing technology services to address citizens' civic needs? "I've found that the framing of 'civic tech' is not immediately resonant with community foundations," says Daniel X. O'Neil, executive director of the Chicago Community Trust's Smart Chicago Collaborative, which is at the forefront of foundations experimenting in this field.
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    Mozilla-New York Times-Washington Post collaboration, the Coral Project, moves forward

    Published April 28, 2015 by

    Photo by Flickr user Marc Wathieu.  The Coral Project, a collaboration by Mozilla, The New York Times and The Washington Post, is creating an online community platform where readers can participate in conversations about stories and topical issues. Knight Foundation supported this project in June 2014. The Coral Project is building an open-source content and commenting platform. It will allow audiences to more deeply engage with media coverage and help news organizations everywhere better manage user comments and contributions. The project was announced in June 2014. It is being created by a new group made up of staff from Knight-Mozilla OpenNews, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Since the announcement, exciting things have been happening at The Coral Project (now tweeting @coralproject), and we thought you should know about them. > Introducing our Project Lead: Andrew Losowsky  
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    Reading Terminal Market: April update

    Published April 28, 2015 by

    PSALMS Gospel Quintet sings at the Reading Terminal Market. April marks the first anniversary of the enhanced performance series at Reading Terminal Market made possible by the Knight Arts Challenge. A total of 31 performances took place at the Market during this year.   They included popup performances by the Philadelphia Orchestra‘s string section, a 50-voice children’s choir, and the Freedom Band, an LGBT brass ensemble. A wide range of music and dance was featured, from classic jazz to a Latin-flavored string quartet, Mexican folk dance to classic American tap. All the artists are Philadelphia-based or have strong Philadelphia connections.
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    Art X Detroit 2015 brings a triumphant celebration of arts to the city

    Published April 28, 2015 by

    A scene from the value-making ceremony organized by Kate Daughdrill and Phreddy Wischusen (artists not pictured here). Photo by Ali Lapetina. Art X Detroit 2015, the biennial celebration honoring the most recent cycle of Kresge Fellows, drew to a close on Sunday, April 26, following nearly three weeks of free events and exhibits put together by the Visual, Literary, Dance/Music and Film/Theatre Fellows, in partnership with Midtown Detroit Inc., Kresge Arts in Detroit (KAID) and the MOCAD (a Knight Arts grantee). Mallika Roy of Midtown Detroit Inc. had this to say about the festival: “Fifteen thousand individuals will visit nearly 20 cultural venues hosting works from 38 artists living and working in Detroit during AXD. I think these numbers really attest to the festival’s ability to bring together people from the metro region and beyond in engaging with diverse artistic spaces, experiences, and communities that are at the core of Detroit’s arts and culture.”
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    The ONE Mile project launches a design and culture magazine in Detroit’s North End

    Published April 28, 2015 by

      This month the ONE Mile project launched its much-anticipated magazine, an image-rich publication featuring the best in art, design, music and culture from Detroit’s epic North End neighborhood. The event took place in an unmarked garage on Oakland Avenue, where local residents, bikers, fashionistas, and culture connoisseurs got together over music, a photography exhibit, and snacks. Presiding over the event – ONE Mile’s Mothership – a gilded, P-Funk-inspired mobile DJ booth and broadcast module. Detroit Hip-Hop legend DJ LOS spun from inside the Mothership, linking the neighborhood’s funk music legacy to contemporary hip-hop grooves in real time. The ONE Mile inaugural issue includes interviews, essays, and photography focusing on the neighborhood’s inspiring residents and cultural innovators. Community advocate Jerry Hebron shares her impressions of growing up in the North End, and her ambitious plan to cultivate fruits, vegetable, and arts programming at the Oakland Community Gardens.
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    Is this the future of informed community? One city moves from “they” to “me” to “we”

    Published April 28, 2015 by

    This post is one in a series on what four community and place-based foundations are learning by funding media projects that help to meet their local information needs. All are funded through the Knight Community Information Challenge. "'They' to 'Me' to 'We.'" Is this the future of informed communities? This evolution describes how community members in the rural, central Wisconsin community of Wisconsin Rapids, who were once dependent on a Fortune 500 paper company headquarters and a robust local newspaper, have been forced to change and adapt over the last 15 years. This is how Incourage Community Foundation breaks it down:
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    Using puppets to break down barriers between people and languages

    Published April 28, 2015 by

    Courtesy of Mu Performing Arts. Mu Performing Arts has become a national leader in developing and supporting the work of Asian-American playwrights, actors and musicians. Mu has also become a hub of education, community outreach, and a strong voice advocating for social justice. As Mu gets ready to start work on its Knight Arts Challenge-winning project, “Speaking Out: Our Immigration Journey Through Puppetry,” Artistic Director Randy Reyes took some time away from directing Mu’s production of “Twelfth Night” to share thoughts on making shows, representing a community and building partnerships. Where are you with the project timeline for “Speaking Out: Our Immigration Journey Through Puppetry”? Right now, we’re making contacts with community partners and working on finding matching funds. The funding will really determine how soon we can start the project. We hope that by the end of the summer we can start the first series of workshops from which the play will be made.
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    New online archive offers unprecedented access to John Cage’s work

    Published April 27, 2015 by

    Today, the New World Symphony launches a video-based exploration of the work of John Cage, one of the 20th century’s most influential and provocative composers and visual artists. Part of a free, online resource, the archive grew from a 2013 celebration of Cage on the 100th anniversary of his birth, and allows viewers to experience his music and learn more through behind-the-scenes discussions. For some of the videos, the material shot during the performance at Miami Beach’s New World Center was just the starting point for the creation of new video art. For example, in the case of Dance/4 Orchestras, images of Cage’s drawings and compositions are layered over the musicians’ in a multimedia work.
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    Measuring media impact: 5 steps to put you on track

    Published April 27, 2015 by

    Knight Foundation recently released “Gaining Ground: How Nonprofit News Ventures Seek Sustainability,” a follow-up report in an ongoing series chronicling the development of nonprofit news sites. Lindsay Green-Barber is the media impact analyst at The Center for Investigative Reporting, one of the organizations that shared their stories in the report. Here she offers more detail on how the center determines what impact means and how it can be achieved. If there is one overarching lesson that we at the Center for Investigative Reporting have learned over the past two years of impact measurement and analysis, it is this: There is no single way to measure the effect of what we do. Instead, there are as many ways to measure impact as there are types of impact.
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    Smart City Startups connects tech, policy and business innovators

    Published April 27, 2015 by

    Aimee Rawlins (left), startup and innovation editor at CNNMoney, moderated a discussion with Anand Shah of BMW Impact Ventures, Kyle Doerksen of Future Motion, Tiffany Chu of Transitmix, Sabrina Sussman of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), and Chris Thomas, founder and partner at Fontinalis, on how to best disrupt models of mobility with technology. Photo by Preston Tesvich. The 2015 Smart City Startups festival brought more than 100 leading global innovators with ideas to make cities better into conversation with South Florida residents, city leaders and investors last week. Founders of companies that use technology to lead change across the globe spoke at The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse and took part in a showcase at the Wynwood Warehouse Project in Miami April 23-24. This is the second year that startup solutions to urban problems were broadcast via live stream from Miami. The two-day event featured lightning talks by company founders, demos from 100 leading startups, and conversations about what it takes to disrupt and innovate in communities across the globe.
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    Moonlight photography benefits cemetery preservation

    Published April 27, 2015 by

    Full Moon Euphoria 2015 benefits cemetery preservation for the Riverside Cemetery and Conservancy. On May 4, the Riverside Cemetery and Conservancy, a Knight Arts grantee, will host Full Moon Euphoria, its annual fundraiser benefiting preservation efforts in the cemetery. The focus of the event is moonlight photography–an activity that is increasingly popular nowadays. During Full Moon Euphoria, professionals will teach those in attendance various techniques that can be used while taking photos at night, either using radiance from the earth's only natural satellite exclusively, or by combining its luminescence with artificial lighting. (Of course, skill isn't all you'll need–equipment like the right camera and mounts play a huge role in capturing a quality view at night.) Shutterbugs of all levels are invited to register for this unique affair at the Riverside Cemetery. This happening is quite unusual because people are not just taking photos in the dark; they are in a cemetery while snapping these pictures.
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    Writing Miami’s next chapter: Cultural tourism takes center stage

    Published April 24, 2015 by

    More than 150 guests convened at the InterContinental Hotel in Downtown Miami on April 2nd for the 11th Annual Breakfast with the Arts and Hospitality Industry. Hosted by the Arts & Business Council of Miami in conjunction with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, the event takes an innovative look into how hospitality companies can attract and engage with the arts for profitable partnerships that enhance Miami’s reputation as a growing destination for cultural tourism.  The Arts & Business Council creates connections between the corporate and cultural communities, and the annual breakfast is a signature program designed to provide an opportunity for hospitality and arts leaders to meet and talk about winning ideas for collaborations. This year’s sold-out program assembled a panel of speakers covering various arms of the local tourism industry who unanimously agree that cultural tourism is one of the strongest and thriving elements driving visitors to choose Miami as a desination.