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2003 Grant Awards: Resources for Change - Technology

Some details of the projects listed below are subject to change, contingent upon prior Endowment approval.

Arizona State University (on behalf of Institute for Studies in the Arts)
Tempe, AZ
$150,000
To support the motion e project, which will develop hardware and software to document, analyze, and formulate modern dance choreography. In collaboration with choreographers Bill T. Jones, Trisha Brown, and Bebe Miller, the Institute for Studies in the Arts at Arizona State University will create tools that can recognize and document particular movements as well as dance styles, and assist choreographers to score new works and integrate choreography into multimedia environments. Partners include composers, visual artists, theater designers, and media technicians. A Web site will disseminate results of the projects to the dance field and the public.

Bowdoin College
Brunswick, ME
$100,000
To support enhancements to a Web site that examines the history, landscape techniques, and artistic practices in traditional gardens in Kyoto, Japan. 3-D modeling and interactive capability will allow users to re-organize design features, trace historical changes in landscape practice and vegetation growth, and create original Zen gardens based on literary examples or scholarly supposition. Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will be installed to facilitate a hands-on, interactive environment where students and the public can explore aesthetic landscape design utilizing up-to-date learning techniques.

City Lore, Inc.
New York, NY
$100,000
To support development of City of Memory, an installation of five interactive tables representing the boroughs of New York City. By selecting a locale, visitors will retrieve images, audio, video, and textual information and stories relevant to a particular neighborhood. Collections of City Lore and its partner, the Museum of the City of New York, will form the core of the materials. A Web site will provide a similarly interactive map and also allow the public to submit personal histories, photos, and audio that will document additional layers of events and individuals in the projectÍs virtual memory map.

Exploratorium
San Francisco, CA
$150,000
To support the development of Web-based and wireless arts programming that incorporates the ExploratoriumÍs upcoming new location into site-inspired work. Senior artists at the Exploratorium will collaborate with technology experts to utilize the impending move to explore and connect with potential patrons, other arts organizations, and the historical context of the new neighborhood. A multimedia lab constructed in the facility will support residencies for the artistsÍ work.

George Eastman House
Rochester, NY
$140,000
To support the construction of Photolink, a search engine that will examine photography collections on the basis of subject or content, unlike current methods that are limited to the name of the photographer or of the picture itself. Photolink will allow searches based on time periods, social themes, artistic characteristics, technical factors such as developing methods, and other content parameters. The collections of George Eastman House and its project partner, the International Center of Photography, will form the initial database. Through the Photolink Web site, the public will have user-friendly access to images and related information that previously required a specific knowledge of photography to pursue.

Harvestworks, Inc.
New York, NY
$50,000
To support a laboratory environment where teams of music artists, engineers, computer programmers, and media theoreticians can collaborate on the design and demonstration of interactive software and instruments to be used in performance. The project will support musicians who want to explore how their instruments can interface with multimedia devices. These experiments are expected to lead to prototype devices that have wider applications than the individual artistÍs own work, suggesting how similar interfaces could be adapted by artists in other disciplines or how HarvestworksÍ experimental process could provide a model for technological collaboration throughout the performing arts.

Kronos Performing Arts Association
San Francisco, CA
$100,000
To support the development of a portable Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting system for music ensembles and performing arts events where mechanical equipment must operate silently. Kronos will collaborate with multimedia designer Willie Williams to employ new commercial LED systems that require no cooling fans. The resulting lighting display will allow Kronos to control artistic effects wherever it tours, regardless of the degree of technical sophistication or equipment set-up at each venue. As other presenters advance the prototype, Kronos expects the system will become available at reasonable cost and provide significant opportunities for creative, performance-enhancing light design to a wide variety of arts organizations.

On the Boards
Seattle, WA
$60,000
To support redesign of the Web site and development of Web-based and other media marketing tools such as CDs and DVDs for outreach to On the BoardsÍ particularly tech savvy, youthful audience. Focusing on presenting contemporary performance work that often includes multimedia experimentation, On the Boards will develop appropriate multimedia content to promote programs, increase participation, and serve as enhancements for patron events. The project will supply equipment to allow On the Boards to create custom-made promotional materials at a low cost, permitting, for instance, its Web-based ticketing system to personalize marketing efforts and build patron relationships.

Public Radio International, Inc. (PRI)
Minneapolis, MN
$85,000
To support the Media Bank, a project to digitally archive and disseminate high-quality audio related to arts and culture for broadcasting on public radio stations and their Web sites. As a clearinghouse of modular content, the Media Bank will allow national and local programmers and independent producers to showcase, exchange, and collaborate on broadcast units for specific audiences. The project will include asset management software that will track fees and licensing arrangements, and will supply marketing and other ancillary materials related to the programming.

Regents of the University of California at Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
$100,000
To support development and testing of software that will create a physically interactive space, where the public can enjoy media-rich environments tailored to their specific needs and the nature of the arts exhibition or event attended. U.C.L.A.Ís HyperMedia Studio will build an interface that can be customized by arts professionals to provide interactive experiences and information based on such factors as the age of the groups attending or the type of visitors expected. In conjunction with the SmithsonianÍs Museum of American History, the studio will test a prototype exhibition where visitors might discover connections between artifacts that they canÍt physically manipulate or retrieve a unique display of contextual information based on how long the majority linger in front of any given historical item. Demonstrating the capabilities of such interactive spaces could have wide-ranging impact on museums and cultural exhibits and events.

Regents of the University of California
(on behalf of Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive - BAM/PFA)
Berkeley, CA
$165,000
To support Archiving the Avant Garde: Documenting and Preserving Digital/Media Art, a project initiated by the Berkeley Arts Museum and Pacific Film Archive to establish and disseminate standards for collecting and caring for digital/media art. Project partners will test models for cataloguing, preserving, and presenting digital/media art. In addition, they will develop software for archiving materials and for emulating technologies in cases where original operating systems have become obsolete. A series of public conferences in Berkeley, Cleveland, and New York will solicit broad input for the process, complementing staff expertise from the participating institutions: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Franklin Furnace Archive, Rhizome.org, and Cleveland Performance Art Festival and Archives. Results will provide standards and software tools that will impact artists and institutions nationwide.

Whitney Museum of American Art
New York, NY
$150,000
To support launching Whitney Learning, a Web site that will provide teachers and families with resources for educating students in grades K-12. Utilizing items from the WhitneyÍs permanent collection of 20th century American art, the site will offer images and informational texts, curriculum materials, on- and off-line activities, and interactive tools for students in the classroom or at home. The Whitney will use the Web presence in its programs with school children visiting the museum and in training sessions for educators who wish to integrate the materials into school curriculum. In addition, the Web site will extend expanded access to the WhitneyÍs collection and educational resources to the general public.

Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
Vienna, VA
$150,000
To support development of smART stART Network, a Web-supported professional development exchange for the early childhood education community in literacy and the performing arts. Wolf Trap will extend the reach of its in-person training institute for educators by creating Web-based content, and by establishing a structured online review of program development and implementation among teachers and teaching artists. Best practices will be shared through the submission of lesson plans and video of classroom implementation; feedback on the materials and performance will increase the quality of instruction. In addition, the community of educators brought together on the Web will form a resource for exploring ways to expand performing arts strategies and activities and formulate standards that address the needs of the field.


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