Last week in Miami, 31 ideas were announced as winners of the 2011 Knight Arts Challenge.

Above, Nicholas Goldsborough describes how the Miami City Ballet, a challenge winner, will broaden its programming and support the future of ballet by establishing a fund for the creation of new works. The project aims to excite audiences and infuse dance with new energy.

Mentorship program for African-American playwrights, coral as a living art form, new dance company   among the winners of Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge

MIAMI, Nov. 28, 2011— Thirty-one ideas – many of them from small cultural groups helping to weave the arts into South Florida’s DNA – have been selected as 2011 winners of the Knight Arts Challenge.

The challenge, a program of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is a communitywide contest helping to transform South Florida through the arts.

In its fourth year, the challenge is investing $2.9 million in projects that will:

• Bring the arts into people’s everyday lives, through opera performances in unexpected places, pop-up sculptures on Miami Beach, concerts downtown and in Miami-Dade parks and artist-lead bus tours of Miami’s lesser known points of interest.

• Tell Miami’s unique story, by portraying coral as a living art form in public exhibits, expanding an artist-in-residence program in the Everglades and creating a mentorship program for African-American playwrights.

• Help develop a recognizable “Miami” style of dance by launching a new dance company and offering opportunities for local and international choreographers.

• Provide tomorrow’s artists and arts enthusiasts with enriching experiences – including a chance to meet one of Haiti’s most prominent artists, be mentored by an author of teen novels or participate in art institute classes.

• Bring more Hispanic masters to South Florida, through a theater festival and exhibits and performances at the Cuban Museum.

A full list of the winners is below.

“The Miami of today is not the Miami of ten, five or even two years ago. Much of that has to do with artists and supporters who are building a new Miami everyday and bringing us together through their work,” Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. “Every day, Knight Arts Challenge winners add to that momentum, moving and inspiring us towards a better future.”

In just four years, Knight Foundation has invested close to $19 million in Arts Challenge projects – an amount that local arts supporters are doubling with matching funds. Big ideas that have already become a reality include the Borscht Film Festival, helping to forge a new cinematic identity for Miami, The LegalArt Residency, Miami’s only live/work residency for artists, Sleepless Night Miami Beach, where tens of thousands enjoyed 12 hours of nonstop culture, and a sound art gallery debuting this weekend on Lincoln Road.

“So many of the best ideas for the South Florida arts are coming from the ground up.  These are small, artist-driven groups who pour their creativity into this community and help bring South Florida together through the arts,” said Dennis Scholl, Knight Foundation’s vice president/arts.

In addition, Knight kicked off the challenge in 2008 by investing $20 million in endowment grants that fund a new-media program at the New World Symphony, field trips for 40,000 students a year to the Miami Art Museum when it opens its new building, and a series of exhibitions by emerging artists at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami.

The contest’s success inspired Knight Foundation to launch a national arts program, which invests in projects that enrich and engage eight communities across the United States. The cities include Detroit, San Jose and Philadelphia, which now has its own Knight Arts Challenge contest.

The Knight Arts Challenge, a matching grant program, will open again in early 2012 to accept the fifth round of applicants.

To find out more about Knight’s arts program, visit www.knightarts.org

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

Contacts:

Marc Fest, Vice President/Communications, 305-908-2677, fest@knightfoundation.org

2011 Knight Arts Challenge Winners

Women Artists Celebrated in Art Books Series

• Project: Miami Women Artists Books

• Recipient: [NAME] Publications
• Award: $20,000

To celebrate local women artists, [NAME] Publications will dedicate its Miami artists book series for one year exclusively to four women and their work. These original works are seen as a space where artists can further develop their ideas and projects, not just as a simple container of previous works. The designer books will be showcased in international collections and libraries and promoted at art book fairs, aiming to increase the understanding of Miami’s diverse cultural community, both locally and internationally.

Everglades’ Artist-in-Residence Program Expands

• Project: Artists in Residence in Everglades
• Recipient: Artists in Residence in Everglades
• Award: $30,000

To help artists bring their passion for the Everglades to the public, the Artists in Residence in Everglades program will expand to include additional programming, a stipend and professional support. Because artists and art lovers are great ambassadors for the beauty of the park’s rare ecosystem, the program will help connect artists in the Everglades with Miami’s urban art scene, creating a bridge of artistic exploration connecting South Florida’s east and west coasts.

Building Arts Leaders and Bridging Leadership Gaps

• Project: Arts Board Marketplace
• Recipient: Arts & Business Council of Miami
• Award: $30,000

To increase the number and diversity of board candidates accessible to arts organizations, the Arts & Business Council of Miami will create a program to match business and community participants with available board positions at Miami arts groups. The council will develop and launch an innovative website and online platform, train arts executives about board recruitment and management, and provide leadership seminars for business professionals. The project aims to build new leaders for the cultural community, as well as new audiences and income sources.

Artist-Led Bus Tours Explore Miami’s “Weird” Side

• Project: Weird Miami Bus Tours
• Recipient: Bas Fisher Invitational
• Award: $100,000

Bas Fisher Invitational will offer a behind the scenes look at the city and its artistic offerings by expanding the popular, artist-led Weird Miami bus tours, which introduce locals, as well as tourists, to lesser-known places and cultural projects. Bas Fisher will invite artists to create tours and exhibitions that reflect their relationship with the city. The project also will create an interactive, online presence to enhance the experience.

Temporary Public Art Pops Up Around Miami Beach

• Project: TC: Temporary Contemporary, a temporary public art projects program.
• Recipient: Bass Museum of Art
• Award: $80,000

The TC: Temporary Contemporary project will surprise and engage the public by populating the city center area of Miami Beach with temporary public art projects that include sculpture, murals, sound installation and video. The Bass Museum will select more than a dozen artists over two years to create public art that will be installed throughout the project period. The effort aims to strengthen the city’s arts district by bringing public spaces alive through the wonder of art.

Long-Standing Local Artists Get New Spotlight on Their Work

• Project: Bridge Red Studios Project Space
• Recipient: Bridge Red Studios
• Award: $15,000

Bridge Red Studios Project Space will give new exposure to long-standing artists by providing a space to exhibit their works and ideas. While the arts community continues to grow and expand in South Florida, the community will benefit from a space dedicated to mid- to late-career artists. Bridge Red Studios Project Space will be a venue to showcase these visual artists of significant accomplishment, as a way to help them foster connections with new audiences.

Ceramic Enthusiasts Get New Tools

• Project: CLM Center for Ceramics
• Recipient: Ceramic League of Miami
• Award: $25,000

The Ceramic League of Miami will further strengthen the ceramic arts in South Florida by providing artists and potters working in clay with access to kilns and studio facilities at its South Dade location. The league will equip the center with a custom-built soda kiln and host a series of workshops, lectures and classes to introduce the project. The project aims to introduce students and young artists to the possibilities of working with clay and raise public awareness about the broad appeal and varied styles of the ceramic arts.

Workshops Teach the Craft of Traditional Haitian Art

• Project: The Haitian Heritage Art Project
• Recipient: City of Miami Little Haiti Cultural Center
• Award: $75,000

The Little Haiti Cultural Center will support traditional Haitian arts by conducting workshops in papier-mâché, textiles and other disciplines, then host a community festival to highlight them. Project organizers will recruit residents for courses in Haitian fine arts and crafts, including monthly weekend workshops where Haitian guest artists will conduct classes and discuss the creative process. The project will culminate with a Haitian Heritage Art Fest featuring the new artwork of project participants, as well as a street parade with traditional Haitian attire, masks, Kompas music and Haitian cuisine.

Training, Mentorship for Playwrights

• Project: CityWrights Miami – A Professional Weekend for Playwrights
• Recipient: City Theatre
• Award: $75,000

City Theatre will cultivate South Florida playwrights by hosting an annual conference that brings together local writers with national playwrights, artistic directors and industry leaders. CityWrights will go to the heart of a playwright’s craft, offering master classes, workshops and mentorships in artistic and professional development. The process will be open to all through public readings with local actors and directors, giving audiences a role in the process from page to stage and promoting the theater as a center for fresh, new works.

Multimedia Coral Reefs at MIA Build Excitement for new Miami Science Museum

• Project: Aqua/Cultural Transformation: The New Miami Science Museum
• Recipient: Coral Morphologic
• Award: $150,000

Coral Morphologic has teamed with the Miami Science Museum to build excitement for its arrival downtowns at Museum Park by collaborating on a multimedia art-science project at Miami International Airport. This public project will promote the world-class aquarium exhibits that will be central to the new Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science, to be completed at the end of 2014. High-definition screens will be installed in airport terminals and waiting areas to portray fluorescent corals as living art forms and icons of the city. These installations will engage, relax and entrance travelers of all ages, while reinforcing Miami’s position as a gateway to the coral reefs of the Caribbean. Additionally, coral aquascapes also will be shown on the New World Symphony’s 1,700 square foot outdoor projection wall during a night of underwater film.

Cuban Masters in Exile Bring Works to Miami

• Project: Sweet Home Museo Cubano
• Recipient: Cuban Museum
• Award: $100,000

The Cuban Museum will bring the work of distinguished Cuban artists in exile to South Florida through a series of exhibitions and performances at the Cuban Museum. The one-year series will feature performances by Cuban exile pianists, singers, a saxophonist and filmmaker-playwright, among other artists of various disciplines. Sweet Home hopes the exhibits will attract new visitors, increase interest in Cuban-American art, and make the museum a home away from home for Cuban artists in exile.

Contemporary Art Space Engages Community with Experimental Work

• Project: Dimensions Variable: Experimental Projects
• Recipient: Dimensions Variable/Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova
• Award: $40,000

Dimensions Variable will present experimental works in South Florida through exhibitions at an independent space featuring site-specific works by national and international artists. Artists will be invited from near and far to create the unique works; they hope to engage audiences through lectures and discussions that broaden Miami’s engagement in an international contemporary art dialogue.

Opera Draws New Audiences with Performances in Unexpected Places

• Project: Unexpected Opera in Unexpected Places
• Recipient: Florida Grand Opera
• Award: $240,000

Florida Grand Opera will bring opera to new audiences by presenting new or updated operas in a unique, intimate space once a year. This project aims to attract younger audiences to bold and modern productions in nontraditional venues. The opera company will find new production spaces and create a custom marketing strategy, following up with new patrons and establishing a model that can be replicated by other opera and performing arts groups.

Winter Shakespeare Festival Brings Together Royal Shakespeare Company and GableStage with Acclaimed Local Playwright

• Project: Winter Shakespeare Festival – New Audience, Old Master, Outdoors and Free
• Recipient: GableStage
• Award: $120,000

GableStage will introduce a new audience to an old master by launching a Winter Shakespeare Festival, in collaboration with acclaimed playwright and Miami native Tarell Alvin McCraney and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The festival will stage new productions of Shakespeare’s plays, adapted and led by McCraney, an international playwright in residence at the company. Admission will be free to the public and the performances presented outdoors in Coconut Grove and in downtown Miami’s Bayfront Park. GableStage will also organize educational activities and bring performances to Miami-Dade Public Schools, especially those in low-income neighborhoods.

New Residency Program Cultivates Performing Artists

• Project: Inkub8 Residency Program
• Recipient: Inkub8
• Award: $50,000

Inkub8, an experimental, hybrid performance space in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, will expand its offerings and cultivate more local performing artists by creating a residency program. The effort will offer space for a month and a modest stipend in exchange for artists teaching classes and exhibiting works. The final event, a performance with all the resident artists, will further nurture community building, expand the definition of performance and explore new mediums that incorporate movement, dance, theater, sound art and other emerging hybrid forms.

Local Performing Artists Receive Professional Development Training

• Project: MDC Live! at Miami Dade College
• Recipient: Miami Dade College
• Award: $40,000

Miami often lacks professional development programs for active performing artists who want continuing educational opportunities without having to enroll in a degree program. Popular in many universities worldwide, summer intensives that feature master artists address a need for professionals seeking advanced-level, world-class training at home. Miami Dade College’s MDC Live! series proposes to expand its educational component to create more in-depth intensives and long-term learning opportunities for performing artists.

Exhibit Sparks Dialogue About a 20th Century Art Movement

• Project: CoBrA—Multidisciplinary Response to International Collaboration
• Recipient: Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale
• Award: $300,000

The Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale will enhance local knowledge and dialogue concerning the CoBrA art movement, formed in the aftermath of World War II, through an international partnership that includes artistic residencies and a major exhibition from the museum’s collection. The movement, named for artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam, rejected traditional Western culture and embraced rich colors and intriguing, spontaneous-feeling designs. The museum will develop an interactive CoBrA website, produce three exhibitions on the movement’s art forms and cultural connections and host a range of artistic competitions and workshops. The project aims to ignite dialogue, strengthen awareness of the museum’s CoBrA collection and reveal the movement’s impact on contemporary artists.

Dance Lessons Help Develop Creativity in Special-Needs Students

• Project: Inclusive Dance – Benefits for All – Expanding the Boundaries
• Recipient: Karen Peterson and Dancers
• Award: $10,000

Karen Peterson and Dancers will provide dance instruction to 450 middle and senior high students with special needs, helping them develop creativity, teamwork and strong self-esteem. Teachers will meet once a week for 15 weeks with each classroom of 20 to 25 students to research movement toward performance. A five- to seven-minute dance will be created for students at each participating school, and the project will end with a gala dance concert. The training aims to help students learn self-expression and self-confidence while using movement for fun.

Festival Celebrates Overtown’s Rich Artistic Heritage

• Project: Overtown Rhythm and Arts Festival
• Recipient: Overtown Rhythm and Arts Festival
• Award: $50,000

The Overtown Rhythm and Arts Festival will celebrate the musical and artistic heritage of Overtown with an annual street festival that draws top acts. Organizers, originally part of a Leadership Miami team, will set up workshops to organize fund raising, marketing and community partnerships. The resulting annual festival of music, art, food and local vendors will draw increasing numbers of diverse audiences, higher-profile acts and sponsors.

Future of Ballet Supported Through New Works Fund

• Project: Miami City Ballet’s New Works Fund
• Recipient: Miami City Ballet
• Award: $300,000

Miami City Ballet will broaden its programming and support the future of ballet by establishing a fund for the creation of new works. The New Works Fund will explore the next generation of choreographic legends by premiering new works this season by Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky and British choreographer Liam Scarlett. The project aims to excite audiences and infuse dance with new energy, while placing Miami City Ballet and South Florida at the cutting edge of the international ballet scene.

Downtown Miami to Get Free Concerts – Year-Round

• Project: Downtown Miami Concert Series – Summer Shows at the Gusman
• Recipient: Miami Downtown Development Authority
• Award: $100,000

The Miami Downtown Development Authority will help strengthen a sense of community in the urban core by making the outdoor, winter Downtown Miami Concert Series year-round, with summer shows at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts. The expanded concert series, which will feature four genres of music, aims to introduce new generations to the Gusman, increase foot traffic in the downtown area and spur commerce while promoting Flagler Street as a neighborhood where new businesses and rich history come together.

Popular Local Opera Series Expands

• Project: Classical Opera Staging for Young Talents
• Recipient: Miami Lyric Opera
• Award: $40,000

Miami Lyric Opera will strengthen local opera by providing a larger venue and additional performances for the company’s popular subscription series. The project will include expanding the orchestra and enlarging the audience potential to 5,500-6,000 (from a current audience of less than 3,000). The projected results: production enhancement, greater exposure for young singers, more professional productions and a wider diffusion of lyric opera across the community.

Free Music and Dance Concerts Expand in Local Parks

• Project: Noches Tropicales/Tropical Nights
• Recipient: Miami-Dade Parks
• Award: $100,000

Miami-Dade Parks will highlight America’s rich music history by expanding the successful Noches Tropicales to include Tropical Nights, featuring Latin, jazz, blues, folk and other contemporary music. The project aims to extend the park system’s arts programming and encourage community engagement with the arts.

A Mentor for Teen Writers

• Project: Writer-in-Residence: Young Adult Fiction
• Recipient: Miami-Dade Public Library System
• Award: $20,000

The Miami-Dade Public Library System will encourage creative writing among teens by creating a writer-in-residence program for an author of teen novels. While typical the writer-in-residence program focuses on the writer, this program centers on teens, inspiring them to express themselves through their writings. The library will select one resident author who will mentor 20 students in creative writing. Teens will share their works aloud at a culminating event. The resident author will also create a pamphlet of creative writing tips and conduct several workshops open to library users across the county about the different components of writing, both as a creative outlet and as a possible career path.

New Wing at MOCA – Where Kids Learn to Love Art

• Project: MOCA Art Institute at the Museum of Contemporary Art
• Recipient: Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami
• Award: $300,000

The Museum of Contemporary Art will inspire teens to become lifelong learners and lovers of art by creating an institute to provide free year-round programs in art history, museum studies, studio art, design, creative writing and more. The MOCA Art Institute will offer enriching experiences for thousands of students through an array of comprehensive educational programs in art and communications that use engaging curriculum and a dynamic museum environment to build skills, develop aesthetic analysis and promote creativity through exposure, experience and interdisciplinary discussion. Instruction includes an after-school program for teens, summer journalism and photojournalism courses for inner-city youth and the teen-produced MOCAZINE, an arts and literary journal.

New Dance Company Helps Develop Next Generation of Performers

• Project: Peter London Global Dance Theater
• Recipient: Peter London Global Dance Theater
• Award: $120,000

The Peter London Global Dance Theater will launch in South Florida to support and develop the talents of exceptional local dancers and choreographers who have historically had limited access to local, professional performance opportunities. To help develop talent, the company will conduct master classes and summer workshops, perform many local shows pro bono, and establish collaborations among painters, composers, actors and singers to create innovative performances. A repertoire of thought-provoking choreography that reflects South Florida’s multiculturalism will also be created. The goal is to build a world-class contemporary dance company with solid finances and management that benefits the community through its artistry.

Local Record Label Promotes Engagement Through Experimental Music

• Project: Worthy Spectacles and Obsolete Mediums
• Recipient: Roofless Records
• Award: $20,000

This project will support and develop Miami’s experimental music scene by expanding the local label Roofless Records. The label currently hosts live events and releases limited editions of local artists’ works. Roofless is dedicated to the concept of a label release as an art object – maintaining a free-form aesthetic and ethos with regard to the design, development and production process. With Knight funding, Roofless will be able to launch seasonal catalogs and a publishing house, and continue to curate it signature events.

Latino Theater Greats to Participate in International Hispanic Theatre Festival

• Project: Miami: Hispanic Cultural Capital of the U.S.
• Recipient: Teatro Avante
• Award: $150,000

Teatro Avante will bring a greater representation of Latino/Hispanic theater, playwrights, directors and artists from throughout the world to the Miami-based International Hispanic Theatre Festival of Miami. This project will create an online, bilingual platform to establish Miami as the nation’s center for Latino/Hispanic performing arts and to collect information and promote dialogue about the richness and diversity of Latino artists’ work. Teatro Avante will create an educational program featuring scholars and researchers, as well as exhibits, and present an annual national conference on Latino theater in the United States.

Mentors for African-American Playwrights

• Project: New Play Series
• Recipient: The M Ensemble Company
• Award: $25,000

The M Ensemble Company will cultivate African-American playwrights by creating a mentorship program to assist in developing scripts for a new play series. The company will hold a bimonthly play-writing workshop geared toward beginners at The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse. A quarterly seminar for new and established playwrights will examine the challenges, rewards and opportunities of writing plays for black theater companies. Early-career playwrights will attend an intensive workshop and work closely with a mentor to develop a specific work. The project is designed to develop and sustain audiences for theater and play reading, and to expand and enrich playwrights in a supportive and dynamic atmosphere. The project will culminate in a two-day public reading of selected plays.

New Dance Thinking in Miami

• Project: “Is Paris Burning?”
• Recipient: Tigertail Productions
• Award: $75,000

Tigertail Productions will foster new thinking in dance with “Is Paris Burning?” a series of guest artist encounters, artist-curated events and site-specific performances that examine and reinvigorate traditional choreography. Tigertail will select a Miami-based artist to conceive a program for stage. National dance leaders and choreographers will lead exchanges and discussions on what is happening in the field. The project will bring to Miami choreographers for informal encounters with area choreographers. “Is Paris Burning?” seeks to create new opportunities for Miami choreographers and establish Miami as a place where a new movement and style of dance is taking place.

Spirit of Haiti’s Art Lives in New Exhibit and Workshops

• Project: Edouard Duval Carrie – The Spirit of Haiti
• Recipient: Young at Art Museum
• Award: $100,000

Young at Art Museum will engage the community in Haiti’s rich artistic traditions through an installation by artist Edouard Duval Carrie, accompanied by family workshops and art-making activities. The museum will collaborate with Carrie and commission the firm Architecture Is Fun to design and develop an installation called The Spirit of Haiti. The museum will develop art activities for the installation, provide free field trips to low-income children and develop family workshops to serve a projected 2,500 people annually. Plans also include producing a four-part Haitian perspectives artist series, based on Haitian culture.

NEWS RELEASE | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Applications open today for Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (Oct. 3, 2011) – The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is now accepting applications for the second year of the Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia from today through Oct. 31.  The three-year, $9 million community-wide contest seeks the most innovative ideas in the arts to engage and enrich Philadelphia’s communities.

In the Challenge’s first year, Knight Foundation awarded $2.7 million to 36 winners representing a broad spectrum of the community – from individual artists and artist-driven organizations to some of the city’s premier cultural institutions.

Anyone can enter the Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia –independent artists and artist collectives of all types, businesses, established arts institutions, service organizations and any individual who has a great idea for the arts. The initial two-question application – available now at KnightArts.org – is designed to be simple to encourage applicants who are not traditional grant seekers.

There are only three rules for the Challenge:

1. The idea must be about the arts.
2. The project must take place in or benefit Philadelphia.
3. The grant recipients must find funds to match Knight’s commitment (within a
   year).

“This contest is about ideas. What’s your big idea for the Philadelphia arts? We want people to tell us what moves them, so that together we can help engage and move the soul of the community,” said Dennis Scholl, vice president/Arts for Knight Foundation.

Winning ideas in year one were selected from a field of 1,752 submissions, including:

• Darla Jackson for Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, to help Philadelphia sculptors create their works safely by creating a “sculpture gym” where artists can use heavy-duty tools, have storage space and get one-on-one help with projects;
• Vox Populi for Spectrum, to inspire the community by offering
  an innovative arts series that crosses the traditional boundaries of visual
  art, performance, music, film, video, dance and theater;
• Taller Puertorriqueño for Café under the Stars: Spotlighting Arts in the Barrio, to create personal cultural experiences that connect audiences across cultures by producing a series of monthly outdoor performances in the heart of Latino Philadelphia.

“The first year of this contest demonstrated just how creative our community can be,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Philadelphia program director for Knight Foundation. “We’re looking forward to more and even better entries in year two.”

The Knight Arts Challenge began in 2008 in Miami, where the initiative is now in its fifth year. Philadelphia is only the second city in which Knight is offering this program.

For more on Knight Foundation’s arts initiative and to view a full list of
Knight Arts Challenge winners, visit www.KnightArts.org.
Philadelphians can also learn more, ask questions, and share ideas on the
Knight Arts Challenge Facebook page here, and on Twitter @KnightArts.

About
the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote
quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the
arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and
communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org.

#  #  #

Press Contacts:

Megan Wendell, Canary Promotion, Philadelphia Knight Foundation Representative,
215-690-4065; megan@canarypromo.com

Marc
Fest, Vice President of Communications, Knight Foundation, 305-908-2677; fest@knightfoundation.org

View the chat in a larger window here

NEWS RELEASE | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 6, 2011) Knight Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) today are launching an eight-city  competition seeking new models for local arts journalism in the digital age. The initiative seeks to rethink how traditional media systems function, harnessing the latest tools and technology to make the transition to the new information environment.

Just as cultural institutions are pursuing new ways to engage audiences, information portals are also seeking innovative methods to cover, inspire and engage communities through the arts and to provide platforms for high quality cultural criticism and coverage.

Winners of the Knight/NEA Community Arts Journalism Challenge will use the latest tools for storytelling and engaging readers to create model programs that could be replicated in other communities.

“Arts journalism is essential to the kind of vibrant communities we all want to live in,” said Dennis Scholl, vice president/arts for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. “With the changing media landscape, we have a real opportunity here to find new, engaging and sustainable models.”

NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman said, “The challenges facing arts journalism are well known.  However, no clear solutions have yet emerged to sustain locally relevant coverage.  We are counting on the bold and innovative thinking in these eight communities to begin showing a path forward.”

Applications are being accepted for projects in the following cities: Akron, Ohio, Detroit, Mich., Macon, Ga., Charlotte, N.C., Miami, Fla., Philadelphia, Pa., San Jose/ Silicon Valley, Calif. and St. Paul, Minn. Although the applicant may be from outside these eight cities, the proposed project must benefit at least one of these communities directly.

Up to $100,000 is available per project: first round winners will receive up to $20,000 to create an “action plan” for developing their idea, and will be eligible for up to $80,000 in the contest’s second round to implement it.

Individuals, non-profits and businesses are eligible to apply. Partnerships between legacy and emerging media organizations are encouraged. There is no limit to the number of applications an organization can submit.

“No idea is too unusual,” Scholl said. “Embedding a nonprofit reporter in a for-profit news organization? Creating a new collective to share professional work? Asking the community to decide which arts stories are best and put up the money to cover those? Have better ideas that never would have occurred to us on our own?  Fill out the application form, and send them in. The best ideas may well be the ones that stretch our thinking.”

For application materials and more information, visit artsjournalism.org. The application deadline is Thursday, August 18, 2011.

Knight and NEA staff will answer questions about the challenge during a live, online chat at 2 p.m. July 27th at artsjournalism.org. No registration is required, though you can go to artsjournalism.org to sign up for a reminder.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at arts.gov

Join a Web Chat
Join a web chat on July 27th at 2 p.m. to get your questions on the Community Arts Journalism Challenge answered. Register for an e-mail reminder. No registration necessary, just visit www.artsjournalism.org.

Media Contacts:
Marc Fest, Vice President of Communications, Knight Foundation,
305-908-2677; fest@knightfoundation.org

Victoria Hutter, Assistant Director, Public Affairs
202-682-5692, hutterv@arts.gov

Cross posted from http://www.nea.gov/artworks/

Today the National Endowment for the Arts along with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation launched the Knight/NEA Community Arts Journalism Challenge, a pilot competition in eight Knight communities to inspire new, innovative models for local, high-quality arts coverage and criticism. The NEA’s Senior Deputy Chairman Joan Shigekawa and Knight’s Vice President for Arts Dennis Scholl chatted about the Challenge and more broadly about why arts journalism matters.

NEA: Let’s start with a big question, why does arts journalism matter? What is the value of good journalism for artists, audiences, and the community at large?

Joan: Arts journalism is, as NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman would say, right in our wheelhouse.  We need vibrant arts journalism to reach the long term goals in the NEA’s Strategic Plan which include:  – to Engage the Public with Diverse and Excellent Art and – to Promote Public Knowledge and Understanding about the Contributions of the Arts.

Knowledge and information about the arts that engages Americans of all ages is important n to the cultural vitality and vibrancy of our towns and cities.   We count on arts journalism for this function, and arts journalism is in trouble.

Dennis: We’ve seen a radical transformation of all forms of journalism, and it has really changed arts journalism. One good estimate notes that about 25% of journalism jobs have been lost over the last five to eight years, as many as 50% of the local arts journalism jobs in America have simply disappeared. We’re losing art journalists, who are the portal to culture for a lot of people, so it’s a very critical need at this point.

Joan: Right, and I think that one of the great focus points for our Challenge is that we’re thinking about arts journalism where people live. It’s about what is exciting, intellectually and creatively in your community and making sure that you know about it. Journalism plays a huge role in helping creative people link up with other creative people and explore new forms of expression. All of that is necessary if we are going to build a creative, resilient economy and wonderful cities and towns. Without arts journalism, there’s a huge void.

Dennis: A recent Gallup poll done by the Knight Foundation, called Soul of the Community,* revealed a connection between social offerings, including the arts, in a community and how attached people are to their community. So the arts matter to people in terms of where they choose to live.

Joan: I found the poll fascinating because it dug deeper than any other study I’ve seen about why people chose to live in the place they live. I see this in my daughter’s generation all the time. They are looking at the aesthetics of place, is it an interesting place to live. All of the studies show that even in this economy, her generation is making their choices about where they want to live first and are confident about creating their own livelihoods.

 Dennis: I was just going to say, Joan, when we did the Soul of the Community we just assumed that jobs and the economy would be the things that people valued most. But in 26 different communities, over three consecutive years, the single most statistical connection was between social offerings and attraction. And arts activity and engagement are primary components of that.

NEA: Whether it is a professional reporter or whether it is a citizen journalist, describe the role that they perform in connecting art to audience.

Dennis: Certainly, a person who is a journalist for a living is in a different category than a person who volunteers as a reporter, but both are extremely important in today’s media ecosystems. The Knight Foundation has been looking at what happens when you don’t have vibrant arts journalism in your community, the decreased livability and quality of life. We’re losing a lot of professional journalists from traditional media but clearly there are many, many more bloggers, citizen journalists springing up. But volunteer and part-time efforts on the local level have not replaced what is being lost in traditional media. One thing the Challenge might do is find a way to bring professional and citizen journalists together.

NEA: What other ways has the rise of social media made an impact on the role of traditional arts journalists, for example, if the audience is able to tweet a review at intermission or leak about problems with the Broadway show Spider Man?

Joan: One of the things that anyone who is doing visual arts, or performing arts, or launching a book, devoutly hopes for is positive word of mouth. And the rise of the internet and social media has exponentially expanded the power of word of mouth. But also we need folks who are deeply knowledgeable about the arts sharing their thoughts with us.

Dennis: Joan’s right, there are many different types of news. We need to know what’s happening as it is happening. We need informed opinion, including the wisdom of the crowd. And we also need well-researched, contextual analysis. Each element has its own kind of quality, its own values. A healthy media ecosystem has the full spectrum of expression. We hope the Challenge will encourage people to think about what’s missing in arts information and engagement in their community.

NEA: Can you talk about what the Knight Foundation and the NEA are looking for in terms of a winning idea?

Dennis: I think that the chosen ideas will articulate some of the following: they will be inventive ways to leverage social networks or other emerging digital platforms, and of course mobile platforms, and to engage people with high-quality cultural coverage and criticism to their community. The new models will have some potential for sustainability although not necessarily sustainable right out of the box. That’s what Phase Two is for. We’re looking for fresh insights or unconventional solutions, creating arts journalism labs, in a way, with the best ideas from the eight target communities.

Joan: Since 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts has funded institutes to advance arts journalism. But as we saw the rapidly evolving media landscape, we went in search of new ideas. So the NEA and the Knight Foundation pooled our resources and our reach and set up a lab to see what kind of innovative approaches might be forthcoming. So it’s a public/private partnership, and it’s a great adventure.

Dennis: I just want to say that the Knight Foundation looked around and said who are we going to work with in the arts? And the answer was obvious. The NEA is the largest annual arts funder in America. They’re thoughtful and willing to try some of these new experiments with us. We’re being carefully non-prescriptive. Just give us your best idea. That’s really what we’re looking for.

*Knight Soul of the Community (SOTC) is a three-year study conducted by Gallup of the 26 John S. and James L. Knight Foundation communities across the United States employing a fresh approach to determine the factors that attach residents to their communities and the role of community attachment in an area’s economic growth and well-being. The study focuses on the emotional side of the connection between residents and their communities. Visit soulofthecommunity.org

Read the press release: “Challenge seeks new models for arts journalism“

Knight Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts are launching an eight-city competition seeking new models for local arts journalism in the digital age. Details will be announced by Knight and NEA July 6.

Last fall, we asked for the best ideas for the arts in South Florida. We received more than 1,300 ideas, and today we’re happy to announce the 56 finalists for the Knight Arts Challenge Miami.

We hope you’re as inspired as we were by these innovative ideas for bringing people together through the arts. Read on for more, and stay tuned for the announcement of the winners in November.

56 Finalists announced in Knight Arts Challenge Miami

Contest part of $40 million cultural initiative to spur community engagement

MIAMI (May 16, 2011) – The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced the finalists in the Knight Arts Challenge Miami, an annual contest that aims to bring South Florida together through the arts.

The 56 finalists –  including individual artists, artist-driven organizations and premiere cultural institutions – emerged from a wide-ranging field of applicants with a broad spectrum of ideas. Descriptions of the finalists’ projects are available below and at www.KnightArts.org. Knight Foundation will announce the winners of the matching arts grants in November.

“The ideas from the South Florida arts community just keep getting better and better – further proof that Miami’s cultural scene is truly coming into its own,” said Dennis Scholl, Knight Foundation’s vice president/arts. “The momentum this contest has created for the arts will continue to engage this community and enrich the lives of South Floridians.”

This is the fourth year of the Knight Arts Challenge, which offers $20 million over five years in matching grant money to the best ideas in the South Florida arts. Applicants must follow only three rules: the ideas must be about art, the project must take place in or benefit South Florida and the project must find funding to match Knight’s commitment.

Previous winners of the Knight Arts Challenge are helping to transform the local arts scene and bring the community together. They include the 2011 Borscht Film Festival, a sold-out event presenting Miami stories; the LegalArt Residency, Miami’s only live/work artists residency; Teatro Avante, which enhanced its award-winning Hispanic theater festival; and the Miami City Ballet, which brought back live music to accompany its 25^th anniversary season. As part of the challenge, Knight Foundation also invested an additional $20 million in endowment grants to three leading arts institutions: the Miami Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami and the New World Symphony.

For more information, visit www.KnightArts.org.

2011 Knight Arts Challenge Miami Finalists

[NAME] Publications: To celebrate local women artists by dedicating a year of [NAME] Publications’ Miami artists book series exclusively to women and their work

Adalberto Delgado: To bring together Miami’s emerging and more established artists through joint exhibitions at the 6th Street Container alternative space in Little Havana

Area Stage Company: To further develop local playwrights by expanding a student New Play Festival to include a competition whose winners will develop their works for the company’s regular season

Artists in Residence in Everglades: To help artists bring their passion for the Everglades to the public by expanding the Artists-in-Residence program to include a stipend and professional support

Arts & Business Council of Miami: To broaden the number and diversity of board candidates accessible to arts organizations by developing a website where professionals can explore their interests, review opportunities and pursue board placement

Bas Fisher Invitational: To build a sense of community by expanding the popular Weird Miami bus tours, which are artist-led expeditions to little known places and projects around the city

Bass Museum of Art: To surprise and engage the public by populating a 40-block area of Miami Beach with temporary public art projects that include sculpture, murals, sound installation and video

Bridge Red: To provide more exposure to the region’s mid- to late-career visual artists – who might not enjoy gallery representation or museum exposure – through exhibitions at a warehouse space

Camposition: To promote unity in South Florida through a series of dance-theater productions that suggest artistic solutions to the discord that threatens communities

Cathleen Murphy: To tell an authentic story of a Cuban journey to America through a musical conceived by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz and Grammy Award-winning recording artists Tiempo Libre – who use their own journeys as inspirations

Centro Cultural de España: To celebrate modern music, technology and design by launching Sonar Miami, a weekend event that uses public and private spaces to showcase cutting-edge developments in modern sound

Ceramic League of Miami: To fill a growing need in Miami by providing ceramic artists with access to kilns and studio facilities in an idyllic setting on the Deering Estate grounds

City of Miami Little Haiti Cultural Center: To support traditional Haitian arts by conducting workshops in paper mache, textiles and other disciplines, then hosting a community procession to highlight them

City Theatre: To cultivate local playwrights by uniting local writers with national playwrights, artistic directors and industry leaders for master classes, workshops and mentorships

Coral Morphologic/Miami Science Museum: To build excitement for downtown’s Museum Park by creating a multimedia art project displaying video of a living coral reef aquarium juxtaposed with time-lapsed documentation of the park’s construction

Cuban Museum: To bring the work of top Cuban artists in exile to South Florida through a series of exhibitions and performances at the Cuban Museum

Dimensions Variable: To present experimental works in South Florida through exhibitions at an independent space that focus on site-specific works by national and international artists

ERE. Bistoury: To foster improvisational performance through a weeklong, multidisciplinary festival offering free public performances

Florida Grand Opera: To bring opera to new audiences by presenting new or updated operas in unique, intimate spaces

Friends of Gusman and Sweat Records: To foster indie music through an annual Battle of the of Bands that brings local acts out of the clubs and onto the stage of Miami’s original concert venue

FUNDarte: To expand the visibility of Miami artists by creating a virtual office and interactive blog that will build partnerships among local art presenters

GableStage: To introduce a new audience to an old master by launching a Winter Shakespeare Festival, which will blend classic techniques with contemporary references in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company and acclaimed Miami-native playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney

Hispanic-American Lyric Theatre: To support the creation of new works by commissioning a full-length opera and giving local artists the opportunity to collaborate in its creation

Homestead Main Street: To bring the New World Symphony to South Dade through free simulcasts of concerts shown in Homestead’s Losner Park

Inkub8: To cultivate local performing artists by creating a residency program that offers time, space and a modest stipend in exchange for artists teaching classes and exhibiting works

Jillian Mayer: To create a conceptual variety show – a nod to similar shows in 1970s New York – that will feature artists filmed in front of a live audience, broadcast live and later released as short videos

Joey Daoud: To provide a new way to experience local architecture by creating an iPhone app that allows people to simply point their phone at a building and have a rich visual experience, complete with interviews, historical photos and short videos

Karen Peterson and Dancers: To provide dance instruction to the 3,000 children with disabilities in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, who will perform their work at a gala performance

Katherine MacDiarmid: To encourage South Florida youths to participate in the performing arts by providing educational performances by the Black Violin fiddlers, whose music links the classics to jazz to hip-hop

Lucila Garcia de Onrubia: To strengthen Miami’s reputation as an “art city” by commissioning works that will be displayed on parking meter receipts

Magic in Action: To celebrate the musical and artistic heritage of Overtown with an annual festival that draws top acts

Miami City Ballet: To broaden programming and support the future of ballet by establishing a fund for the creation of new works

Miami Dade College Cultura del Lobo Performance Series: To provide professional development training for Miami’s performers by creating a series of intensive summer master classes

Miami Downtown Development Authority: To cultivate a sense of community by making the Downtown Miami Concert Series year-round, with summer shows at the Gusman Center

Miami Film Fellowship: To cultivate local filmmakers by offering a mid-career fellowship during which participants both learn from master filmmakers and mentor up-and-comers

Miami International Airport Fine Arts & Cultural Affairs: To enhance South Florida as a destination by inviting the Miami Symphony Orchestra to perform in Miami International Airport’s International Greeters Hall

Miami Jazz Cooperative: To strengthen the local jazz scene by establishing a permanent facility that will offer rehearsal space by day and live performances at night

Miami Light Project: To introduce the community to the new Light Box at Goldman Warehouse through a campaign featuring monthly podcasts, open mic and dance jams, artist-community potluck lunches and a direct-mail campaign

Miami Lyric Opera: To strengthen local opera offerings by providing a larger venue and additional performances for Miami Lyric Opera’s popular subscription series

Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs: To “bring home” prominent and influential Miami artists now living elsewhere through a series of performances at the new South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center

Miami-Dade Parks: To reach a broader segment of the community by more than doubling the number of free concerts in neighborhood parks produced by the successful Noches Tropicales and Tropical Nights series

Miami-Dade Public Library System: To encourage creative writing among Miami-Dade teens by creating a writer-in-residence program for an author of teen novels

Moving the Lives of Kids Art Center (MLK): To bring together the Little Haiti community to help create a large mural at the Little Haiti Soccer Park

Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale: To enhance local knowledge and dialogue around the CoBrA art movement, formed as a reaction to World War II’s devastation, through an international partnership that includes artistic residencies and a major exhibition of the museum’s collection

Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami: To inspire students to become lifelong learners and lovers of art by creating an institute to provide free year-round programs in art history, museum studies, studio art, creative writing and more

Nereida Garcia Ferraz: To inspire a female-led art revolution in Liberty City by working with teens to create interdisciplinary works of art that transform parking lots, street corners, storefronts and parks

Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum: To mark the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Ponce de Leon in Florida by organizing major exhibitions, educational programs and events in 2013, in partnership with Spanish institutions

Peter London Global Dance Theater: To stem the flow of talented local dancers who pursue careers elsewhere by launching the Peter London Global Dance Theater in Miami

Roofless Records: To support Miami’s experimental music scene by helping the local label Roofless Records launch seasonal catalogs and a publishing house in addition to acquiring a sound system for events

Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre: To bring attention to Miami’s distinctive cultural voice by having the innovative Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre employ a full-time ensemble to create a repertoire

South Beach Chamber Ensemble: To inspire the community through music by expanding the ensemble’s Mozart on the Move series to ten, brief pop-up performances at a variety of South Beach stores, clubs and venues

Teatro Avante: To promote Miami as the center for Latino performing arts by creating a bilingual website featuring the rich and diverse work Latino artists produce in the United States

The M Ensemble Company: To cultivate African-American playwrights by creating a mentorship program to assist in the development of scripts for a new play series

Tigertail Productions: To promote innovative thinking in the local dance community through a series of artist-curated and site-specific performances that team visiting and local choreographers

Young at Art Museum: To engage the community in Haiti’s rich artistic traditions through an installation by artist Edouard Duval Carrie, accompanied by family workshops and art-making activities

Zoetic Stage: To explore Miami’s people and cultural identity through “The Miami Plays,” a series by South Florida playwrights launched with the help of local actors, stage designers and artisans

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Note: On May 9th KnightArts announced
2011 winners of Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia.

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Ver en español esta aquí.

Creemos en el poder que tienen las artes de unir a la comunidad, avivar el alma y ayudarnos a imaginar nuestro potencial colectivo.

Todos los años, el Knight Arts Challenge le pregunta a la comunidad: ¿Cuál es su mejor idea para las artes en el sur de la Florida? Las respuestas no dejan de inspirarnos. Siga leyendo para conocer a los 56 finalistas de la competencia, que ofrece un total de $20 millones a lo largo de cinco años. Los ganadores se anunciarán en noviembre.

[NAME] Publications: Celebrar a las artistas locales dedicando a ellas y sus obras un año de la serie de libros sobre creadores miamenses que edita [NAME] Publications

Adalberto Delgado: Reunir a los artistas emergentes de Miami con los más establecidos a través de exposiciones conjuntas en el espacio alternativo 6th Street Container, en la Pequeña Habana

Area Stage Company: Contribuir al desarrollo de dramaturgos locales expandiendo el New Play Festival estudiantil de modo que incluya una competencia cuyos ganadores perfeccionarán sus obras para que se representen durante la temporada regular de la compañía

Artists in Residence in Everglades: Ayudar a artistas a transmitir al público su pasión por los Everglades expandiendo el programa Artists-in-Residence de manera que incluya un estipendio y apoyo profesional

Art & Business Council of Miami: Aumentar el número y la diversidad de los candidatos a las juntas directivas de nuestras organizaciones artísticas creando un sitio web que permita a profesionales explorar sus intereses, examinar las oportunidades y solicitar inclusión en una junta

Bas Fisher Invitational: Forjar un sentido de comunidad expandiendo los populares recorridos en autobús Weird Miami, excursiones dirigidas por artistas a sitios pocos conocidos de la ciudad

Bass Museum of Art: Sorprender y envolver al público en el arte poblando una zona de 40 manzanas de Miami Beach con proyectos artísticos temporales, entre ellos, esculturas, murales, instalaciones sonoras y videos

Bridge Red: Dar a conocer mejor a los artistas plásticos de la región que se encuentren en la fase media o avanzada de su carrera – y que no disfruten de representación en galerías o presencia en museos- por medio de exposiciones en un espacio de almacén

Camposition: Fomentar la unidad en el sur de la Florida mediante una serie de producciones de danza-teatro que sugieran soluciones artísticas a la discordia que amenaza a las comunidades

Cathleen Murphy: Contar la historia real de una travesía cubana a Estados Unidos mediante un musical concebido por el dramaturgo Nilo Cruz, ganador de un premio Pulitzer, y los músicos Tiempo Libre, quienes utilizan su propia odisea como inspiración

Centro Cultural de España: Celebrar la música, la tecnología y el diseño de hoy lanzando Sonar Miami, actividad que durante un fin de semana utiliza espacios públicos y privados para mostrar los últimos avances en el sonido

Ceramic League of Miami: Satisfacer una necesidad cada vez mayor dándoles a los ceramistas de Miami acceso a hornos y espacio de trabajo en un entorno idílico en los predios del Deering Estate

City of Miami Little Haiti Cultural Center: Apoyar las artes tradicionales haitianas realizando talleres de papier maché, textiles y otras artesanías, y destacando posteriormente los productos en una procesión comunitaria

City Theatre: Impulsar el desarrollo de dramaturgos locales reuniendo a estos con dramaturgos, directores artísticos y dirigentes de la industria a nivel nacional para clases magistrales, talleres y mentorías

Coral Morphologic/Miami Science Museum: Generar entusiasmo por el Museum Park creando un proyecto multimedia en que se mostrarán videos de un acuario de arrecife de coral yuxtapuestos con secuencias aceleradas de la construcción del parque

Cuban Museum: Traer al sur de la Florida a destacados artistas cubanos exiliados mediante una serie de exposiciones y espectáculos en el nuevo Museo Cubano

Dimensions Variable: Presentar obras experimentales en el sur de la Florida montando en un espacio independiente exposiciones de trabajos específicos al sitio creados por artistas nacionales e internacionales

ERE.Bistoury: Promover el arte de la improvisación mediante un festival multidisciplinario de una semana de duración que ofrezca funciones gratuitas al público

Florida Grand Opera: Llevar la ópera a nuevos públicos presentando nuevas o actualizadas obras de este género musical en espacios inusuales e íntimos

Friends of Gusman y Sweat Records: Promover la música independiente mediante una serie anual que saque a las bandas locales de los clubs nocturnos y las presente en el escenario donde se celebraron los primeros conciertos de Miami

FUNDarte: Aumentar la visibilidad de los artistas de Miami creando una oficina virtual y un blog interactivo que fomente la colaboración entre los presentadores de arte locales

GableStage: Presentarles un viejo maestro a nuevos públicos lanzando un Festival Invernal de Shakespeare que aunará técnicas clásicas y referencias contemporáneas en colaboración con la Royal Shakespeare Company y el aplaudido dramaturgo Tarrel Alvin McCraney, oriundo de Miami.

Hispanic-American Lyric Theatre: Apoyar la creación de obras nuevas comisionando una ópera y dando a artistas locales la oportunidad de colaborar en su elaboración

Homestead Main Street: Traer la New World Symphony al sur de Miami-Dade mediante la transmisión gratuita y simultánea por radio y televisión de conciertos celebrados en el Losner Park de Homestead

Inkub8: Forjar artistas escénicos locales creando un programa de residencia que brinde al artista tiempo, espacio y un modesto estipendio a cambio de que imparta clases y exponga sus obras

Jillian Mayer: Crear un espectáculo de variedades de naturaleza conceptual, parecido a los que se hacían en Nueva York en los años 70, en que las actuaciones de los artistas se transmitirán en vivo, se filmarán y se distribuirán en forma de breves videos

Joey Daoud: Proporcionar una nueva manera de experimentar la arquitectura local creando una aplicación para el iPhone que permita apuntar el teléfono a un edificio y recibir una rica experiencia visual, con entrevistas, fotos históricas y videos cortos

Karen Peterson and Dancers: Instruir en la danza a los 3,000 niños con discapacidades que hay en las escuelas públicas de Miami-Dade para que luego actúen en un espectáculo de gala.

Katherine MacDiarmid: Animar a la juventud del sur de la Florida a participar en las artes escénicas patrocinando espectáculos educativos del conjunto Black Violin, cuya música conecta los clásicos con jazz y hip-hop

Lucila García de Onrubia: Contribuir a la reputación de Miami como ciudad artística comisionando obras que aparecerán en los recibos de los parquímetros

Magic in Action: Celebrar la herencia musical y artística de Overtown con un festival anual que atraiga espectáculos de primera

Miami City Ballet: Ampliar la programación y apoyar el futuro del ballet estableciendo un fondo destinado a la creación de obras nuevas

Miami Dade College Cultura del Lobo Performance Series: Contribuir al desarrollo profesional de los artistas escénicos de Miami ofreciendo en el verano una serie de clases magistrales intensivas

Miami Downtown Development Authority: Cultivar un sentido de comunidad extendiendo el ciclo Downtown Miami Concert Series a todo el año, con funciones de verano en el Gusman Center

Miami Film Fellowship: Impulsar a cineastas locales en medio de su trayectoria profesional concediéndoles becas de trabajo que les permitan aprender de maestros del cine y a la vez servir de mentores a los principiantes

Miami International Airport Fine Arts & Cultural Affairs: Contribuir a la imagen del sur de la Florida como destino turístico invitando a la Miami Symphony Orchestra a tocar en el salón de recepción International Greeters Hall del Aeropuerto Internacional de Miami

Miami Jazz Cooperative: Aumentar la oferta de jazz local estableciendo un espacio permanente donde los artistas puedan ensayar de día y tocar de noche

Miami Light Project: Presentar a la comunidad el Nuevo Light Box en Goldman Warehouse mediante una campaña que incluya podcasts mensuales, sesiones de micrófono abierto e improvisación de baile, almuerzos al que todos aporten platos y una campaña de publicidad por correo

Miami Lyric Opera: Aumentar la oferta de ópera en Miami utilizando un local mayor y programando funciones adicionales dentro de su serie anual, que suele agotarse

Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs: Traer de regreso a destacados e influyentes artistas miamenses que ahora viven en otro sitio mediante una serie de espectáculos en el nuevo South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center

Miami-Dade Parks: Llegar a un mayor segmento de la comunidad duplicando el número de conciertos gratuitos que se ofrecen en los parques locales dentro de las populares series Noches Tropicales y Tropical Nights

Miami-Dade Public Library System: Fomentar la creación literaria entre los adolescentes de Miami-Dade estableciendo un programa de “escritor residente”  para un autor de novelas juveniles

Moving the Lives of Kids Art Center (MLK): Congregar  a la comunidad de El Pequeño Haití para que ayude a crear un mural de 10.000 pies cuadrados en Little Haiti Soccer Park

Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale: Aumentar el conocimiento del  movimiento artístico CoBrA, surgido como reacción a los estragos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y el diálogo al respecto, mediante una asociación internacional que incluya pasantías para artistas, nuevos materiales didácticos, enseñanza a distancia y una exposición de la colección del museo

Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami: Inspirar a los escolares a que se vuelvan amantes y estudiosos del arte para toda la vida estableciendo un instituto que ofrezca todo el año programas en historia del arte, estudios de museos, arte de estudio, creación literaria y más

Nereida Garcia Ferraz: Inspirar una revolución artística encabezada por mujeres en Liberty City colaborando con adolescentes para crear obras interdisciplinarias de arte que transformen estacionamientos, esquinas, vitrinas y parques

Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum: Celebrar el 500 aniversario de la llegada de Ponce de León a la Florida organizando para el 2013 exposiciones, programas educativos y actos en colaboración con instituciones españolas

Peter London Global Dance Theater: Contener la fuga de talentosos bailarines locales que se ven obligados a ejercer su profesión en otra parte lanzando en Miami el Peter London Global Dance Theater

Roofless Records: Apoyar la música experimental de Miami ayudando al sello discográfico Roofless Records a publicar catálogos de temporada, fundar una editorial y adquirir un equipo de sonido para sus eventos

Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre: Llamar atención a la distintiva voz cultural de Miami permitiendo a la innovadora compañía de danza Rosie Herrera emplear un conjunto pagado y de plena dedicación que elabore un repertorio

South Beach Chamber Ensemble: Inspirar a la comunidad a través de la música ampliando la serie Mozart on the Move a diez actuaciones breves e inesperadas en tiendas, clubs y otros locales de South Beach

Teatro Avante: Promocionar a Miami como el centro de  las artes escénicas latinas creando un sitio web bilingüe que destaque el trabajo de gran riqueza y diversidad que los artistas hispanos producen en Estados Unidos

The M Ensemble Company: Potenciar el desarrollo de dramaturgos afroamericanos estableciendo un programa de mentores que asistan en la creación de guiones para un ciclo de obras nuevas

Tigertail Productions: Fomentar el pensamiento innovador en la comunidad de la danza mediante una serie de piezas curadas por artistas y específicas al sitio en las que coreógrafos locales y de fuera trabajarán en equipo

Young at Art Museum: Interesar a la comunidad en la riqueza de las tradiciones de Haití mediante una instalación del artista Edouard Duval Carrie que irá acompañada de talleres familiares y actividades artísticas

Zoetic Stage: Explorar la población y la identidad cultural de Miami mediante “The Miami Plays”, una serie de obras de dramaturgos del sur de la Florida que se montarán con la ayuda de actores, escenógrafos y artesanos locales