Communities – Page 30 – Knight Foundation

Program Area: Communities

Contacts: 

  • Lauren Dickinson, Communications Officer, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305.908.2694, [email protected]
  • Josh Merkin, Partner, rbb Communications, 305.967.6667, [email protected]

MIAMI — Sept. 12, 2019 — To promote The Underline’s success as a world-class public space that connects and inspires the community, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced a new $925,000 investment in the organization’s technology infrastructure, including the development of a technology master plan and expanded professional expertise. 

The new funding builds on a series of previous Knight Foundation investments in The Underline, a proposed 120-acre linear park, urban trail and public art destination spanning 10 miles beneath the Miami-Dade County Metrorail. When the idea of The Underline was introduced in 2015, Knight powered the development of its master plan. Last year, as part of a major investment in Miami’s arts ecosystem, Knight contributed $500,000 to activate portions of the park with public art. Knight’s combined support for The Underline, including today’s new investment, totals nearly $2 million. 

“Miami is a city on the rise, and The Underline is a game-changing development that further elevates our city as a place of global relevance,” said Raul Moas, Knight Foundation program director for Miami. “As a world-class, resident-driven public space, The Underline has the power to stimulate civic life, create incentives for talented people to live and stay in Miami, and inspire creativity and connections that uplift our community.”

Today’s investment in Friends of The Underline — the nonprofit group leading the initiative to transform the underutilized land — will help the organization to grow its leadership staff by providing funds to hire both a Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Information Officer (CIO). The CIO will guide a process to create a technology master plan informed by residents and experts alike. By integrating technology in the early stages of its development, The Underline will pioneer a vision and model for leveraging technology in large-scale public spaces around the world. 

“Technology will be the connective tissue that links the people, places and activities within The Underline’s 120 acres,” said Meg Daly, founder of Friends of the Underline. “We know technology offers infinite ways to improve this space and bring new ideas to life, but we have to build the foundation based on what’s available today and tomorrow. This investment helps equip The Underline to design a cutting-edge technology infrastructure that puts residents first and unleashes the potential of the space’s creators and users.”

The Underline’s two new leadership positions are expected to be hired by the end of this year. The first phase of The Underline, called Brickell Backyard, will open summer 2020. Phase 2 construction is projected to begin in Spring 2020. Learn more and get updates at theunderline.org. 

About Friends of the Underline

Our mission is to deliver and activate a 120-acre, world-class linear park spanning 10-miles below Miami’s Metrorail that will transform regional mobility and celebrate diversity, culture and lifelong learning.  Through innovative urban trails and creative programming, we are connecting people to their environment and each other to create a safe, healthy, equitable, and sustainable community.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit kf.org

Image (top): The Underline Brickell Backyard Promenade, 2019 James Corner Field Operations, Friends of The Underline

Collaborate with the UPENN to lead a design studio studying the open space and social infrastructure of San José. Lead by Marcel Wilson, the class will examine the existing systems and propose design solutions to improve the use of the public realm.

On Sept. 8, 2019, Knight announced $2.15 million in new investments to make St. Paul’s downtown and arts scene more vibrant, inviting and inclusive. Jai Winston, Knight director in St. Paul, shares more about our work in the city below. 

Despite being the capital of Minnesota, Saint Paul has long been in the shadow of Minneapolis as part of a greater “Twin Cities” metropolitan region. This status belies the city’s vibrant civic and cultural life and its history. St. Paul is home to the historic F. Scott Fitzgerald Theater and the Ordway Theater; headquartered in the city and suburbs are major manufacturers 3M and Ecolab; in the state of hockey, it is in downtown St. Paul that the professional hockey team, the Minnesota Wild, play.

St. Paul is also a refuge. After the Central Intelligence Agency recruited the ethnic Hmong population of Laos to fight as part of a proxy conflict in the Vietnam war, thousands resettled in the United States — primarily in St. Paul and Minneapolis. St. Paul is now home to one of the largest urban congregations of Hmong people in the world.

Now a new narrative is being written as St. Paul takes its place as a vibrant urban hub. Downtown St. Paul is at the center of that new narrative, and our work at Knight Foundation is to accelerate that change as St. Paul – and the region – surge forward.

In recent years, new commitments from St. Paul’s business and civic sectors have focused on stimulating St. Paul’s historic downtown, making it a more enticing place to live, work and play. A key part of this effort has included fostering an inclusive, dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem. Recent investments in our downtown area have included programs to attract new and more diverse businesses, improvements in public transportation, and an uptick in housing stock and population density.

To help accelerate this positive change, Knight Foundation has been focusing efforts in three overarching areas: 

  1. Supporting an inclusive entrepreneurial and small business ecosystem that encourages economic growth. 
  2. Energizing the downtown corridor to attract residents and make the city even more vibrant.
  3. Raising the profile of downtown Saint Paul as a hub for new ideas and creative activity.  

We are working with several organizations to drive this change. Most recently, we invested $1.5 million to support the opening of the Minnesota Museum of American Art in a historic downtown location, bringing a critical cultural asset to the business district. Additionally, we supported the building of American Public Media’s Glen Nelson Center downtown, which promotes innovation and business development. The Center houses Lunar Startups, a collaborative space that accelerates early-stage startups, with a focus on entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities. 

We’ve also supported transformative partnerships, leveraging business and civic investments to promote the downtown corridor. The Saint Paul Downtown Alliance, dedicated to building a strong and vibrant center city, is bringing to life a shared vision for downtown St. Paul: a place where relationships and entrepreneurial ideas can be nurtured. The Central Corridor Funders Collaborative, which operated from 2007-16, helped mitigate disruption from the development of the Green Line light rail that now joins the Twin Cities and leveraged the new infrastructure to bring opportunity to new parts of the city. 

Additionally, Knight continues to invest in the local arts ecosystem, helping further connect people to each other and to their city. This year, Knight’s $1 million investment in Springboard for the Arts helped the organization establish a new location on the Green Line to create a local hub for artists and residents and develop new, innovative ways to engage people in the arts. (Learn more about Knight’s Arts program here.)

This focus builds on the work of Knight, and many others, in St. Paul. Over the years, we’ve invested in projects that range from transforming vacant spaces downtown to creating hubs for entrepreneurial and civic conversations that foster change. Many of these projects focus on building a more vibrant, inclusive St. Paul, while leveraging some of the city’s greatest strengths: talent, green spaces and a burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem in downtown. 

We’re excited to be a part of St. Paul’s next great chapter. Time and again, St. Paul and Minnesota have shown what can happen when people come together to envision a brighter future. Knight is ready to join with others and make that future a reality.

Image: Mosaic tile artwork by Daniela Bianchini adorns a utilitarian concrete trash can in Rice Park in downtown Saint Paul. Credit: Visit Saint Paul.

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Contact: Lauren Dickinson, Communications Officer, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305.908.2694, [email protected]

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Sept. 8, 2019 — The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced $2.15 million in new investments focused on establishing downtown as a place for community, creativity and inclusive economic growth. The investments also include new funding for the city’s larger arts scene.

“It’s a time of transformation in St. Paul, as our city claims its place as a lively, engaging urban hub,” said Jai Winston, Knight Foundation director in St. Paul. “Downtown St. Paul is at the core of this change. Building on palpable local momentum, these investments aim to inspire new energy and interest in downtown and beyond, making the city a more attractive place to live, work, play and stay.” 

Knight’s new downtown investments are: 

  • The Minnesota Museum of American Art ($1.5 million): To establish a permanent home for the Minnesota Museum of American Arts (the M) — downtown’s first and only art institution — in the Pioneer Endicott building, as part of an ongoing capital campaign. The M, which has had eight locations over the past 100 years, recently reopened in the historic building on Robert Street, introducing an important cultural amenity to the city’s downtown core. The M’s unique curatorial approach focuses on local, regional and community-oriented exhibitions that showcase the rich culture of Minnesota and all its diverse communities. The museum’s lobby is being renamed the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Lobby.
  • Saint Paul Downtown Alliance ($200,000): To engage private-sector partners in designing and creating a sustainable Business Improvement District in downtown St. Paul. Building on a Knight-supported pilot program in 2019, the St. Paul Downtown Alliance will collaborate with partners to drive policies and programs that create a positive downtown experience for workers, visitors and residents.
  • Saint Paul Public Library ($100,000): To advance the work of the Nicholson Workforce and Innovation Center at the George Latimer Central Library — which helps residents acquire technical skills and pursue career goals — by supporting public programming, staff training and new technology equipment.
  • City of St. Paul ($50,000): To support the City’s “Tech for All” initiative, which will accelerate Saint Paul’s economy by ensuring all residents have access to wealth-building job opportunities that are currently going unfilled, and making strategic investments in Saint Paul’s future workforce, youth of color and girls.

In addition, Knight investments in St. Paul’s larger arts scene will boost the city as a creative destination and elevate the voices of an unsung community. The arts investments are:

  • Creative Enterprise Zone ($200,000): To support the inaugural Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival, happening today through Sept. 14, 2019 in St. Paul’s Creative Enterprise Zone, helping the neighborhood become a recognized destination for creative enterprises, individuals and industries. 
  • The Minnesota Opera ($100,000): To create and produce a new opera for youth performers, The Song Poet, and foster meaningful relationships with the local Hmong community. The new opera is based on a memoir written by St. Paul author Kao Kalia Yang, highlighting her father’s experience immigrating to the United States.

“There is little else that can inspire human connection and community attachment like the arts,”  said Victoria Rogers, Knight Foundation vice president for arts. “These initiatives create meaningful avenues for St. Paul residents and visitors to experience the full breadth of the city’s culture and creativity.”

The M’s lobby, recently renamed for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Credit: Jeffrey Aguy. 

These commitments build on Knight’s $1 million investment in Springboard for the Arts, announced earlier this year, helping the organization establish a new location on the Green Line to create a local hub for artists and residents and develop new, innovative ways to engage people in the arts.

Knight’s newest funding in St. Paul was announced today at a community dinner for foundation partners, local grantees, staff and trustees, held at Rice Park. 

“St. Paul’s history is Knight’s history,” said Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation president. “The Pioneer Press, which has been an independent voice since 1927, was for years a key part of the Knight-Ridder newspaper group. When the Green Line was built, we were among those who assured it served center-city neighborhoods. And now we’re honored to help the art museum find a permanent downtown home.”

Support for these projects is part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to foster more informed and engaged communities, as essential to a healthy democracy. Since 2000, Knight Foundation has invested more than $40 million in St. Paul. 

Learn more about this announcement in a blog post by Knight’s St. Paul Program Director Jai Winston. 

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit kf.org. 

Image (top): New front entrance to the M’s renovated museum facility, designed by VJAA. Credit: Photo by Pete Sieger, courtesy of Minnesota Museum of American Art.

To build upon the learnings of the Knight Community Information labs and provide matching dollars for Cleveland Foundation for microgrants to journalist and resident-media maker collaborative projects in Akron and Cleveland (Northeast Ohio).

To support the use of technology to engage residents by hiring a community manager, and supporting resident-led programming for the North End Smart District Tech Center (NEST) in Charlotte.

To support the local chapter of 1 Million Cups, a national network of weekly meetups by and for entrepreneurs.

To support the Civic Signals Initiative, which seeks to bring together urbanists and thinkers focused on physical spaces to contribute insights on how to build more inclusive, public-friendly online social spaces.

To host a Smart Cities conference at Villanova University in October 2020 that will convene scholars, practitioners, technologists, and government officials around the development and trusted governance of smart cities.

To help establish a permanent establishment Business Improvement District (BID) in downtown St. Paul through planning and local engagement.

Centro will expand its entrepreneurship education and community engagement programs (Basic and Advanced) in Spanish and English to reach more than 80 low to moderate income entrepreneurs in San Jose.