• Article

    Tips on applying to Knight’s Community Arts Grantmaking program

    Published May 31, 2017 by

    The June 16 deadline for arts funding in Macon, Georgia, San Jose, California, Philadelphia and Charlotte is fast approaching. I’ve loved hearing from potential grantees over the past two weeks during the open office hours and have received lots of great proposals across the four cities. We’re excited to read the applications. Through my conversations with applicants, several themes have arisen, and I wanted to share some important tips to help applicants submit a strong proposal. As I mentioned when we opened the application period for this program, one of our priorities is to make sure residents in our cities have access to and engage with high-quality arts experiences. We want to strengthen the overall arts ecosystem in these cities. Keep these two goals top of mind, in addition to the following tips.
  • Article

    HistoryMiami exhibit remembers Hurricane Andrew, 25 years after the storm changed Florida forever

    Published May 30, 2017 by

    Michele Reese is the marketing director for HistoryMiami Museum, a multiple winner of the Knight Arts Challenge. Hurricane Andrew. It struck South Florida 25 years ago this summer, and I can remember it like it was yesterday, especially watching meteorologist Bryan Norcross on television telling us to prepare for the worst.I was 11. It was my first hurricane, and I had no idea what to expect. As the night grew dark, the rain started, and the winds began to howl. Sheets of plywood started flying off my home, windows were opening, and I remember my parents using their strength to keep them shut. When the hurricane passed and I walked outside, I realized just how lucky we were. Our house survived, but I knew South Florida had changed forever. In the aftermath of the storm, though, one thing stood firm, the resilience of our community.
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    Miami’s Little Haiti Book Festival celebrates literature, culture and community

    Published May 25, 2017 by

    Jan Mapou sounds almost giddy when discussing the Little Haiti Book Festival—and with good reason. The event, which started with a Knight Arts Challenge award, is now in its fifth year. It has grown steadily and is now a partnership between Sosyete Koukouy of Miami, the Society of the Fireflies, the Haitian cultural organization Mapou founded in 1985, and Miami Dade College’s Miami Book Fair.The festival is Saturday and Sunday, May 27-28, at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex.“The Miami Book Fair is now the best book fair in the nation, but [in 1984] it also started small, as Books by the Bay,” noted Mapou with a smile.
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    New World Symphony and Seraphic Fire present final concerts of 2016-17 season

    Published May 24, 2017 by

    The New World Symphony and Seraphic Fire, musical institutions that have become truly emblematic of Miami, closed their 2016-2017 season with significant performances–significant in that they reflected both the merits and shortcomings of a city making musical progress despite an occasional step backwards. Though lacking a solid musical core for a city of its size, Miami is fortunate to call itself home to two organizations that transcend local borders. With both, exceptional quality is the norm, and hometown audiences benefit from supporting them.
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    Frost Science taps Leah Melber, Ph.D., as Knight Vice President of Education

    Published May 24, 2017 by

    The Phillip and Patricia Frost Science Museum is a classroom like no other. Some of the lessons come wrapped as popcorn-worthy entertainment in exhibits, laser light shows and planetarium events; others are part of  educational programs for both students and teachers, such as the Upward Bound Math and Science Center, which focuses on science, technology and marine science.Leah Melber, Ph.D., the museum’s newly appointed Knight Vice President of Education, is the key person in the future development of the museum’s education programs. The position is funded by Knight Foundation.
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    1 millionth viewer takes orchestra worldwide

    Published May 22, 2017 by

    The death of classical music is an evergreen story in music literature. Graying audiences and diminishing funding sources have been the subject of stories dating at least 90 years. As is often the case, technology has created new challenges, but also unexpected opportunities.The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has embraced them, and is now celebrating 1 million views of its “Live From Orchestra Hall” webcast, touted as the first from a major American orchestra, online, for free. The webcast is funded by Knight Foundation.
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    Museums & technology: New avenues for wonder

    Published May 18, 2017 by

    Today we are announcing $1.87 million in support to 12 art museums to explore new ways technology can connect people to art.These days, technology and digital communications permeate almost every corner of our lives, from the time we scroll through the morning’s newsfeed until we set an alarm on our phone to wake up the next day. As a result, cultural organizations are being challenged to respond to new audience expectations and behaviors brought about by an always-connected society. On the flip side of these challenges is real opportunity, for museums to use digital means to reach visitors beyond the walls of their institution, to delight people in new ways and to create tools that help researchers.
  • Article

    Ready for its close-up: Frost Museum of Science debuts its new home on May 8

    Published May 4, 2017 by

    The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, opening Monday in downtown Miami’s Museum Park, is serious fun.The stunning, 250,000-square-foot facility, divided into four interconnected buildings with nearly 360 degrees of spectacular views, includes an aquarium, a planetarium and a science museum comprised of a North Wing and a West Wing. But numbers can’t quite convey the experience of peering into the three-level aquarium, which includes a breathtaking underwater view through a 31-foot-wide oculus at the bottom; or walking around the interactive “Feathers to the Stars” exhibit, which tells the story of flight from feathered dinosaurs to space travel, or wandering into the “River of Grass,” an exhibit that captures the richness of the Everglades in real and virtual environments.Still, this is fun with a purpose.
  • Article

    Our hope for Frost Science and its future in Miami

    Published May 4, 2017 by

    Miami is a city that continually evolves, never content to rest on its achievements and consistently pushing through in times of adversity. Much like the city it calls home, the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science stands ready to embark on the next stage of its evolution—one that has been in progress for over 67 years. And the question stands: What does this new museum mean for Miami? It’s an important one to explore, to be sure.We’re at a crucial cultural and technological threshold in Miami. When Frost Science opens its doors in Downtown Miami’s Museum Park on May 8, it is our hope that this new campus will serve the community as a resource for education and discovery, with a focus on learning opportunities in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. It was designed by Grimshaw Architects to maximize these opportunities at every turn and corner.
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    ProjectArt: a runway for connections to kids, art and libraries

    Published May 2, 2017 by

    ProjectArt is one of those ground-up initiatives that makes you wonder, why has this program not been in place forever? The model was pretty simple: re-energize public libraries by providing art classes to children in underprivileged neighborhoods, where cuts in school funding have decimated arts education. The artists who would lead these classes, in return, would also be offered studio space–a significant benefit for often-struggling artists–for the duration of the residency, which would be for one year. Founder Adarsh Alphons kicked off the project in New York in 2011–a man with a mission to put paint brushes into the hands of kids in underused space in his Harlem library.
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    How the Knight Arts Challenge “turbocharged” arts organizations

    Published April 21, 2017 by

    Each year, the Knight Arts Challenge helps arts organizations’ biggest ideas take flight. Along the way, the funding also allows them the time, tools and training to elevate their work, opens up their organizations to new audiences and much more. As this year’s challenge continues to accept submissions in four cities through April 28, we talked to several recent grantees about the impact of the challenge on their work.