Saturday, November 05, 2005
Artist Communities Alliance Meeting
Yesterday I spent the day in New Smyrna Beach Florida at the Atlantic Center for the Art—a remarkable facility that is connected by decks. The facility has a theatre, a music studio, writing space, painting studio, sculpture studio, cottages for visiting artists, and a common area with a kitchen.
I was there speaking at the Artist Communities Alliance conference on alternate application options to paper. Kodak has ceased production of slide projectors making this issue critical in the arts industry. Fellowship programs, public art programs, festivals amongst other fine arts initiatives are stuggling to figure out what the solution is for them. Groups have experimented with powerpoint presentations, computer monitors, and other equipment.
WESTAF has developed a system the works very well to accept applications, upload digital images that are high resolution, and adjudicate those applicants. We’re using Roku HD1000 digital media systems along with digital projectors. In the last year over 11,000 artist records have been created and there are close to 74,000 images that artists have uploaded into the ZAPP™ system.
This brings me back to slide projectors. As projectors break down and other machines are cannibalised to keep them running, we’re going to find machines sold for parts on eBay and other auction sites. They are going to become scarce. Some groups are not going to plan for the future and will find themselves in a bind. Others have become early adoptors and are planning for the future. My hope is that the systems that WESTAF has developed will become the industry standard and that we’ll be able to help agencies large and small navigate through this tranisition period.
I took a few pictures of the facility with my phone. They aren’t great, but I'll try to clean them up so you can see how special the Center is.
I was there speaking at the Artist Communities Alliance conference on alternate application options to paper. Kodak has ceased production of slide projectors making this issue critical in the arts industry. Fellowship programs, public art programs, festivals amongst other fine arts initiatives are stuggling to figure out what the solution is for them. Groups have experimented with powerpoint presentations, computer monitors, and other equipment.
WESTAF has developed a system the works very well to accept applications, upload digital images that are high resolution, and adjudicate those applicants. We’re using Roku HD1000 digital media systems along with digital projectors. In the last year over 11,000 artist records have been created and there are close to 74,000 images that artists have uploaded into the ZAPP™ system.
This brings me back to slide projectors. As projectors break down and other machines are cannibalised to keep them running, we’re going to find machines sold for parts on eBay and other auction sites. They are going to become scarce. Some groups are not going to plan for the future and will find themselves in a bind. Others have become early adoptors and are planning for the future. My hope is that the systems that WESTAF has developed will become the industry standard and that we’ll be able to help agencies large and small navigate through this tranisition period.
I took a few pictures of the facility with my phone. They aren’t great, but I'll try to clean them up so you can see how special the Center is.
