October Member Spotlight on John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

With the conference upcoming, Miami is on our minds this month - and on the GIA website. Images featured on the photo banner throughout October were provided by GIA member John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Founded in 1950, Knight Foundation promotes informed and engaged communities by supporting transformational ideas in journalism and media innovation, community engagement, and the arts. The foundation's arts program invests in artistic excellence, funding innovative arts projects that engage the eight Knight resident communities in collective cultural experiences. Grantees represent both emerging artists and organizations and the oldest, most venerable institutions. The projects all have one thing in common: they are designed to enrich and engage the communities that produce them. Below, the staff comments on the implementation and success of the Arts Challenge program.

We’re in the middle of accepting applications for the Knight Arts Challenge in Philadelphia, a community-wide contest that seeks out the best ideas for engaging communities through the arts. Anybody can enter the contest - an individual artist, a small organization, even a business. There are only three rules: the idea has to be about the arts, has to take place in or benefit Philadelphia, and the project must find matching funds. Other than that, the possibilities are endless. The challenge really is an ideas contest - we want out of the box thinking that helps weave the arts into everyday lives.

In addition to the Philadelphia contest, we run the challenge in Miami where it started. Each time we’re taken aback by the creativity in these communities. This month  Philadelphia alone provides a great example of the kinds of innovative projects that have won funded: an interactive exhibit - with voice-activated searchlights - is now transforming  the skyline of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Opera Company of Philadelphia will simulcast La Bohème on a giant screen on Independence Mall, and talented yet underserved kids are enjoying a brand new, professional studio where they can make digital prints.

We recently evaluated the effects of the Miami challenge, now in its fifth year, and we’re excited to be sharing those results at the GIA conference in Miami this month.

Photo courtesy John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.