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Tag Archives: Visual Arts
Learn about Two New Funded Summer Internship Opportunities in African Art on Thursday, October 21!
Date: Thursday, October 21, 2021
Time: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Location: Johnson 304
The Norval Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa, is a large museum dedicated to mostly modern and contemporary art from South Africa, Africa in general, and the African diaspora worldwide. Located in a state-of-the-art new facility, the Norval Foundation has a rich permanent collection, features temporary exhibitions, presents a rich array of programming and events, and offers educational opportunities including internships.
Two new, fully funded summer internships are now available to Middlebury students. Starting in early July and ending in mid-August, the internships are in the curatorial and educational departments. If you are interested, please join the information session and panel discussion with Jean Fritts ‘86, Specialist of African and Oceanic art and Senior Director, International Chairman, Sotheby’s (London), and Owen Martin, director, Karel Nel and Khanya Mashabela, curators, and a former intern, all from the Norval Foundation. Do not miss this exciting opportunity. Mark your calendars NOW!
Pizza and drinks will be available in the Johnson Lobby, starting at 12:20. The information session and panel discussion, in Johnson 304, will start at 12:30.
Monumental Conversations: What the Andrew Mellon Foundation found when they analyzed America’s monuments
As part of The Mellon Foundation’s unprecedented new Monuments Project, Philadelphia-based nonprofit art and history studio Monument Lab undertook a comprehensive audit of our country’s commemorative landscape, scouring almost half a million records of historic properties to better understand the dynamics and trends that have shaped our nation’s monuments.
Join Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Dr. Paul Farber, Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab, for a discussion that will dive into Monument Lab’s findings and explore what they mean for the future of our commemorative landscape.
Date: Wednesday, September 29
Time: 4pm EST
Click here to register for the event!
You Don’t Need to Sacrifice Creativity for Business: An Interview With Jodie King
Artist Jodie King mentors artists who want to monetize their art. She explains how to approach the business and find their most authentic voice. Click here to read the complete article.
Digital Transformation: An Assessment of Grants Supporting Digital Staff in Museums
Knight Foundation believes that the digital space holds significant opportunities for cultural institutions, and in recent years has intensified its work to help organizations create valuable digital content. Museums that do not invest in digital capabilities and offerings will miss important connections with potential audiences. This deficiency also seems likely to erode the relevance of the arts in society as audiences spend increasing amounts of time online.
In early 2018, Knight Foundation approved $970,000 in grants that aimed to raise the digital profiles of eight museums by supporting the costs of positions dedicated to digital and technology work. These digital positions would conceive, plan, and implement digital strategies that improve the visitor experience and expand audiences. Seven of the initial eight grantees proceeded to hire their digital positions; four of the museums’ hires remain in their positions as of this writing.
The grant period presented a series of unprecedented challenges for museums and for society at large. The Covid-19 pandemic forced many museums to close their physical spaces, pivot to remote work and add more digital programming. The racial justice movement accelerated in 2020, which itself caused a reckoning with museums’ histories of Eurocentrism and lack of staff and board diversity.
All seven grantees showed growth in digital capacity during the grant period. And, though the grantees differed significantly in their budget sizes and in the scope of their digital programs, several themes surfaced repeatedly during the research.
Middlebury Community Music Center Internship Opportunity
Middlebury Community Music Center (MCMC) is a nonprofit organization that hosts music learning of all kinds for community members of all ages, located in a beautiful historic building on Main Street in Middlebury. Private lessons, group classes, workshops, summer camps are offered year-round. MCMC believes in collaboration and bringing together different types of music under one roof.
The arts administration intern position provides key administrative support in a variety of areas ensuring smooth operations and growth in this dynamic emerging arts organization. Responsibilities include carrying out administrative projects and communications; involves assistance with new enrollment, social media updating, marketing, community outreach, fundraising, copy writing, and website maintenance.
Candidate must possess self-initiative, organizational astuteness, willingness to follow processes, excellent preparation and reporting, the desire to build community relationships, hospitality, outstanding written and verbal communication skills and expertise with MS Office and Google Systems required. Social media experience and visual and creative skills strongly preferred. Interest in the arts and enthusiasm for music education is a plus!
Below you will find a list of potential projects you might work on as an intern.
-Monthly Teacher Newsletter
-Occasional Full Community Newsletter
-MCMC private lessons enrollment push (newsletter and maybe a flier/print ad)
If you are interested to learn more about this opportunity, please contact me at agomez@middlebury.edu.
Adaptive Public Space: Places for People in the Pandemic and Beyond
Building on its longtime commitment to public spaces, Knight Foundation commissioned Gehl — a global urban planning, design and strategy firm — to conduct an impact assessment of seven public spaces in its portfolio. The findings illustrate the power of public space as a platform for community development: whether by building resident trust, spurring social activity, supporting economic and workforce development, or catalyzing neighborhood change.
This power makes public spaces a key ingredient in the recovery from COVID-19 — a crisis that has raised the stakes for overcoming deeply rooted, systemic challenges in our cities. For policymakers, funders, and practitioners, these findings are a call to action. By elevating public spaces, leaders nationwide can drive more equitable outcomes in the pandemic and beyond.
THE APPROACH
Located in Akron, Detroit, Philadelphia, and San Jose, the seven projects in this study represent $5 million in direct Knight investments. An additional $50 million in co-funding and follow-on investments from other funders including the Reimagining the Civic Commons network went toward these sites, wider area improvements and ongoing space operations. The spaces range widely: neighborhood parks that give residents a go-to gathering spot; nature spaces that re-engage locals with the outdoors; and citywide destinations that offer art studios, beachscapes, and more.
Given the diversity of spaces, this study did not set out to measure the spaces against one another using a common set of metrics. The goal was to understand impacts related to four core themes, and to life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE:
- Spaces that reflected resident needs, historic character and the arts had more regular visits from residents.
- Community participation and responsive engagement is vital for equitable spaces.
- Prioritizing community engagement throughout the lifecycle of a space led to ripple effects in the wider community.
- Flexible community-led design, inclusive processes, and capacity-building helped sites develop sustainable operating models and adapt to changing conditions — including the pandemic.
The report also offered recommendations for optimizing public space design:
- Create spaces with equity in mind.
- Design spaces with the input of communities that are impacted.
- Become financially sustainable.
Click here to read the full report.
