The Media Arts funding area of the National Endowment for the Arts continues to evolve in tandem with the dynamic nature of the media arts field. Public feedback on our approach to this funding category will be taken and discussed during a webinar on Thursday, January 26. You’ll be able to hear directly from NEA staff and members of the Arts in Media panels and text to us your questions and comments.
Steve's Blog
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Filmmaker David Hoffman set up his dream studio on a hilltop in the Monterrey Bay area of California, complete with his archive of almost 200 films, his equipment, and other collections, including his father's photography. As he was completing his fifth film his studio burned down. Only a week after the fire he spoke at a TED talk about his very bad week. Another film maker, John Vincent Barrett, created this hour-long video that portrays an artist coping with the aftermath of the loss of a life's work.
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The online documentary Here Comes the Neighborhood is a seven-part series that examines Wynwood Walls, a mural and graffiti project in Miami, Florida. The project was designed in 2009 to revitalize a warehouse district and began with the idea that “Wynwood's large stock of warehouse buildings, all with no windows, would be my giant canvases to bring to them the greatest street art ever seen in one place,” according to Tony Goldman, the project creator. Murals by renowned street artists have covered the walls of the Wynwood Walls complex since 2009, and to create more canvases and bring more artists to the project, Goldman opened the Wynwood Doors in 2010 with 176 feet of roll-up storefront gates. The painted exteriors and interiors of the doors reveal a portrait gallery.
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From Chris Jones at The Chicago Tribune:
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was feted in Washington, D.C., Thursday morning for his support of the arts by Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit arts-advocacy group.
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From illustrator and author Margaret Chodos-Irvine, in her blog Pebbles in the Jar:
If you are traveling in the realm of arts education today, you will likely hear reference to Habits of Mind. This is a good term to familiarize yourself with if you are interested in advocating for the arts in education.
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An “Up For Discussion” post from the Zócalo Public Square website:
Philanthropy has a good name, but it doesn’t always make friends. Every foundation has its own mission, and these missions can be in conflict with one another. They can also, in the opinions of critics, play too large a role in democracy, usurping the power of the state and the ordinary citizen. In advance of “Is Philanthropy Too Powerful?”, a Zócalo event, several close observers of philanthropy offer their views on the same question.
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Diane Ragsdale posts to her Jumper blog:
...the past couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about the problem of chronic undercapitalization and its effects on the sector in the context of the final performances of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on New Year’s Eve. The planned closure (aka Living Legacy Plan) of this renowned company has been both refreshing and disconcerting to a field that has become accustomed to dance companies struggling to sustain themselves and preserve the legacies of their founders after death. Merce had witnessed the disappointing trajectories of more than a few companies; he understood what could happen to his own company over time if it tried to persevere without the infusion of new works and his presence.
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From Dylan Schenker at The Creators Project:
How much time do we spend looking at a work of art when we’re in a museum or gallery? Do we really take the time to reflect and let the work sink in? Or do we simply breeze by in an effort to see as much as possible? Some studies suggest that the average visitor only spends about 5 seconds looking at each work, but Mexican media artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer has found a different way of measuring this interaction.
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From James R. Oestreich at The New York Times:
(O)n Tuesday, the Juilliard School is announcing a $20 million gift to endow its graduate-level program in historical performance. The sheer size of the gift is enough to make heads snap in the early-music world, whose practitioners typically struggle to stay a step ahead of poverty.
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From the blog Technically Philly:
A quick scan of the 55 recently announced Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia finalists for 2012 (listed below) reveals a rainbow of ideas aiming for the edge of arts and technology in Philadelphia.