Congratulations to all the new Knight Arts Challenge winners in this the third year of awards from the Miami-based Knight Foundation. The awards to 43 groups and individuals were announced tonight at a ceremony at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Winners are in all the arts categories — theater, music, dance and visual art. There are many exciting things coming down the pike for Philadelphia! See the entire list here.
We’re excited about these four in particular:
David Guinn: Temporary Outdoor Wall Installations Spark Dialogue
Award: $9,000
Freewall is a new, artist-run venue that brings temporary outdoor wall-painting installations to Center City Philadelphia as a way to engage the public in a dialogue about art. The 55-by-28-foot wall at 1214 Sansom St. operates like a gallery dedicated to site-specific, public artwork, allowing artists to extend their studio practice in a public context and at an architectural scale. Artists are given wide latitude to pursue their vision in public, free from external requirements. Challenge funding will provide a stipend to the artists, pay for materials and equipment, and allow for documenting the work from inception to completion.
A graduate of Columbia University, David Guinn is a Philadelphia-based artist specializing in large-scale wall paintings. Since 1998, Guinn has painted more than 30 projects throughout Philadelphia and other cities in North America including New York, Washington, D.C. and Montréal. His work has been widely noted in the media, both locally and internationally. In 2012, Guinn founded Freewall, an outdoor space in Center City Philadelphia dedicated to promoting innovative wall-based artwork and advancing the dialog around public art. Guinn teaches mural painting at Moore College of Art and Design.
CITYWIDE: Multi-Gallery Exhibit Unifies City’s Artist-Run Collectives
Award: $13,000
CITYWIDE seeks to unify Philadelphia’s artist-run collectives in a month-long series of exhibitions and events. Throughout November 2013, more than 20 collectives will participate in an exchange of exhibitions, ideas and practices at galleries and alternative art spaces located in different neighborhoods throughout the city.
The organizing force behind CITYWIDE is a group of like-minded, independent art groups currently active in the emerging artist scene of Philadelphia. Organizing participants of CITYWIDE include: Vox Populi, Space 1026, Grizzly Grizzly, NAPOLEON, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Fjord, Marginal Utility, Practice, Little Berlin, Mt. Airy Contemporary Artists Space, Rebekah Templeton, Basekamp, and McCartney/Belknap Projects
Philadelphia Photo Arts Center: Exhibitions Zoom In on New Approaches to Photography
Award: $100,000
To cultivate new audiences for contemporary photography, the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center will present four multidisciplinary exhibitions that will take photography past the gallery walls to become an immersive experience. For example, for the fourth annual Philly Photo Day, not only will the center invite Philadelphians to take a photograph within the city limits and hang each print, the center will also select 40 works to be blown up and shown on billboards. The center will also produce 20 digital photographic murals in conjunction with community centers and the city’s Mural Arts Program. For another exhibition, photographer Blake Carrington will produce images created in Philadelphia using custom software to translate audio recordings into visual data. Carrington will focus on re-imagining portions of the city, questioning ownership and the ways people perceive their relationship to natural and built spaces. Two additional shows will feature performance artists who use photography and conceptual artists who use nontraditional approaches to portraiture.
The Philadelphia Photo Arts Center is a community hub for contemporary photography. Devoted to the study, practice and appreciation of photography, the center organizes innovative exhibitions, inspiring artist lectures, diverse educational offerings, and affordable access to high-end digital equipment. Founded in 2009, the center quickly became the region’s premier resource for photographers and enthusiasts alike, and has flourished through its efforts towards outreach and community involvement. The center is committed to taking photography past the gallery walls and into the city and to fostering the creative impetus in all those willing to take a picture.
Breadboard at the University City Science Center: New Art and Technology Space Encourages Collaboration, Innovation
Award: $100,000
The Department of Making + Doing is building a collaborative space for curious Philadelphians to realize ground-breaking art and design that inspires, educates, excites and encourages creative “making.” The center’s partner organizations — Breadboard, The Hacktory, NextFab and Public Workshop — will provide programming that will transform the space at 3711 Market St. into a vibrant place of creative production and civic innovation, where participants are encouraged to use technology and scientific concepts to tackle creative challenges. The partners hope the space will produce hybrid projects and products that could shine equally in an art exhibition, patent office, scientific conference or even a bus stop.
Breadboard is a hybrid program at the University City Science Center that facilitates cross-disciplinary art exhibits, artist residency programs, community outreach initiatives and special programs offering public access to a new generation of fabrication technology and workspace in an effort to empower individuals and convene communities around creative applications of technology. Breadboard also manages a public art space known as the Esther Klein Gallery that examines new art and contemporary arts practices that are influenced by technology. Breadboard programs support science, technology, engineering, and math educational initiatives and arts-based learning activities.
