Public Meeting on Arts & Technology

Practicing artists, curators, and field practitioners at all levels are invited by the National Endowment for the Arts to participate in an interactive, virtual conversation designed to elicit public contributions to an Arts & Technology Field Scan, a national research study conducted in partnership with the Ford Foundation and the Knight Foundation. The study seeks to better understand the needs of US-based artists working with technology as a creative medium, to learn more about current and prospective sources of support for these artistic practices, and to bring this research forward to advance understanding of these practices among arts funders and resource providers in both the public and private sector.

During this interactive public meeting, Media Arts director Jax Deluca and the core research team will share the research agenda and goals, alongside a summary of preliminary findings from conversations with approximately 70 artists who participated in regional roundtables held in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, and Detroit throughout Fall 2019. Your interaction with the material presented—adding your ideas, reactions, and experiences—will help shape the research and its next steps. We are particularly interested in participation by working artists outside the coasts of the U.S. and artists of color and Indigenous artists who use technology in their artistic practice.

Registration is available by clicking on this link. Capacity is limited to 100 spots, so register early.

We look forward to your participation!

Arts & Technology Field Scan: Research Overview

The National Endowment for the Arts is conducting an Art & Technology Field Scan, a national research study conducted in partnership with the Ford Foundation and the Knight Foundation. The study seeks to better understand the needs of US-based artists working with technology as a creative medium, to learn more about current and prospective sources of support for these artistic practices, and to bring this research forward to advance understanding of these practices among arts funders and resource providers in both the public and private sector.

The agency's co-directors for this field scan are Jax Deluca, Media Arts Director, and Patricia Moore Shaffer, Deputy Director, Office of Research and Analysis alongside a Technical Working Group comprised of arts and technology field experts who are informing the project’s development and implementation by providing feedback on the research plan, selected research deliverables, and the dissemination of study funding. This working group is also recommending participants for the study’s roundtables, field interviews, and case studies. Click here to review the members of the Technical Working Group.

The field scan is structured to answer these key research questions.

A. How do artists incorporate technology in their artistic practices?

1. What is the range of examples of such work across artistic disciplines and technology platforms? Are there categories or classifications for identifying this work, by genre or sub-discipline or by type of technology used?
2. What is the range of career paths or trajectories taken by artists working with technology? Across artistic disciplines, how are these pathways similar or different?
3. How do artists working with technology participate in cross-sectoral and/or cross-disciplinary partnerships, and/or in their local creative economies? How are these relationships formed and to what purpose? What are the associated risks, challenges, and opportunities for artists?

B. What are current and prospective sources of support for artistic practices using technology, and how might they be improved and/or sustained?

1. What types of technical training and resources are used and needed to support artistic practices using technology? What gaps in training and resources currently exist for these artists, across artistic disciplines and technology platforms?
2. What are current and emergent models for supporting artistic practices (financially and non-financially) using technology? Across artistic disciplines, how are these models similar or different? What are organizational risks, challenges, and opportunities in supporting artists working with technology? How do these differ among for-profit and non-profit organizations? By sector, artistic discipline, and/or technology platform?
3. What are organizational risks, challenges, and opportunities in supporting artists working with technology as a creative medium? How do these differ among for-profit and non-profit organizations? By sector, artistic discipline, and/or technology platform?
4. What techniques and frameworks provide on-ramps for artists representing under-resourced voices, perspectives, and practices in using technology as a creative medium?

Research components include a literature review of relevant sources, an analysis of up to 150 NEA grants that incorporate art in digital and emerging media, the aforementioned roundtables in four cities (and this virtual roundtable) to hear directly from practicing artists, up to 20 field interviews, and case studies of 10 artists work in the field.