Feb 6, 2008 8:26 pm US/Eastern
SOFLA Arts Scene Gets $40 Million Boost
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Three weeks ago, philanthropist Adrienne Arsht gave $30 million to help Miami's financially troubled Performing Arts Center. Wednesday, Florida's art community received some more good news when the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the Knight Arts Partnership, an initiative with a $60 million impact on the arts in South Florida.
It'll provide three endowment grants to leading arts institutions and an inclusive, open-invitation community challenge seeking ideas in the arts and matching funding.
Knight's $40 million contribution includes three grants totaling $20 million to establish leadership endowments for the Miami Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the New World Symphony.
"These grants add to a growing tradition of philanthropic giving in South Florida," said Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of Knight Foundation. "They follow in the footsteps of the Knight brothers, Ted Arison and the Arison Family Foundation, Adrienne Arsht, Sanford and Dolores Ziff, and Irma and Norman Braman. This tradition of private giving includes the many others who have committed hundreds of millions already to the New World Symphony, the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the Miami City Ballet, the Wolfsonian, MOCA and so many other arts organizations."
Knight is committing an additional $20 million over five years to a community challenge open to any individual or organization with big ideas for arts projects in South Florida. Each Knight dollar committed to these new ideas is to be matched from other funders, resulting in a combined impact of $40 million. The foundation is seeking those ideas at
www.KnightArts.org. "All of us are aware of the enormous growth of arts and arts organizations in Miami," said Ibargüen. "In a community as diverse as ours, we should always seek ways to explain and to understand each other. Few areas in life offer the kinds of participation and shared experiences the way the arts do. We believe there are many others – other leaders, other organizations, individuals – with big ideas, and the community challenge is incentive for all of them."
The endowment grants:
The three endowment grants will establish the
Knight School Education Series at the Miami Art Museum, the
Knight Exhibition Series at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the
Knight New Media Endowment at the New World Symphony.
The organizations were chosen for their leadership in the South Florida community and the access they provide to art and culture.
The $10 million
Knight School Education Series endowment grant to the Miami Art Museum will fund an art education program to broaden access to and participation in the visual arts by welcoming every fifth-grade student in Miami-Dade County to class at the museum each year. Other programs connect the arts to middle and high school students.
The $5 million
Knight Exhibition Series endowment for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami will allow MOCA to mount up to three exhibits per year, featuring emerging artists, new public programs and events, school interpretive programs, lectures, film screenings, and the creation of new works.
The $5 million
Knight New Media Endowment for the New World Symphony will advance its use of digital technology, including further implementation of Internet2, which permits performers and audiences to share real-time experiences with other artists around the world. Once completed, the new Gehry-designed home for New World Symphony will be the world's most technologically advanced classical music performance space.
The community challenge: The community challenge of the Knight Arts Partnership will pair $20 million from Knight Foundation with $20 million in matching funds to come from other sources. It is open to any artistic individual or art institution in South Florida.
There are only three rules: the ideas must be about art, the projects must take place in South Florida, and the idea must find funding to match Knight Foundation's commitment.
Organizations and individuals are invited to submit their ideas on the Knight Arts Partnership's home page at
www.KnightArts.org.
Ideas will be accepted until April 15, 2008. Winners will be announced in Fall 2008.
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