When COVID-19 forced institutions worldwide to close, arts organizations quickly developed digital programs to stay connected with their audiences. New World Symphony in Miami Beach, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, was particularly well-prepared for this transition.
During the pandemic, locals gathered in SoundScape Park for socially distanced live-streamed performances projected on the venue’s wall, while hundreds watched from their homes. Even three years later, the concert venue continues to prioritize a digital-first approach. “We are never going back,” said Howard Herring, New World Symphony president and CEO, at Knight Foundation’s forum Catalyst: Digital Transformation in the Arts, during Miami Art Week. “It’s about this place and it’s about the rest of the world—at the same time.”
Across the country, arts organizations are discovering that digital programs can increase access to the arts and attract new audiences. For example, Bearded Ladies, an experimental queer cabaret group in Philadelphia, uses technology to make their in-person programming accessible to people outside urban centers. “We’re trying to reach all the little queer-dos in the Midwest that may not have the same resources and community that are in Philly,” said founder John Jarboe. “[Digital can] do that work, to be an extension, a lubricant for connection.”Rhizome, is at the forefront of preserving digital culture. Rhizome’s online archives document digital culture by preserving interactive copies of websites. “We can preserve an interactive copy of a website and the content that’s revealed by interacting with the website itself,” Bailey said. “Not just the things that are tangible, but the more ephemeral things.”
Technology has also opened new revenue streams for established institutions like the Barnes in Philadelphia. They have digitized their collection, which includes more Paul Cézanne paintings than all the museums in France combined. Their online education programs generate more than $1 million annually. “The impact is many multiples greater in the digital realm,” said Thom Collins, the Barnes’s executive director and president.
Knight Foundation funds the application of technology in the arts to enhance how art is created, shared, and experienced. “Art has an incredible ability to connect people to each other and to the places they live,” said Victoria Rogers, vice president of arts at Knight. “Institutions that embrace technology are forging strong bonds within their communities and unveiling new opportunities for connection.”
Photo Courtesy: Quinn Moss for Knight Foundation
ABOUT THE KNIGHT FOUNDATION
We are social investors who support a more effective democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy, and American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once published newspapers. Find more information at KF.org.
▶ Championing Art and Technology Integration
▶ Knight Foundation’s Catalyst Forum Explores Digital Evolution in the Arts
