Jen Clay in Hyperallergic

Represented artist Jen Clay won the Knight Foundation New Work challenge for the integration of technology with the arts.

Digital transformation has become the language we use to challenge the status quo, experiment, and reach new audiences. For artists and art organizations, it’s the next frontier. That’s why Knight Foundation awarded a total of $500,000 to winners of the Knight New Work challenge. It’s an effort to accelerate the integration of technology with the arts to offer communities greater access and foster meaningful connections between people and place.

Knight New Work (KNW) 2022 supports South Florida-area artists working in all genres who use technology in their practices to create, disseminate, and enhance the way art is experienced. From their work in interactive performance to immersive installations, the winners, who represent the area’s rich diversity, are creators who push the boundaries of art through technology.

Headquartered in Miami, Knight Foundation has made investments in the arts that have been instrumental in the city’s evolution as an international hub for art and culture. Grants totaling more than $40 million — which include the KNW 2022 awards — were announced in December 2022, bringing the foundation’s total investment over the past 17 years to more than $200 million. This steady-state funding has led to a significant increase in the sustainability of local arts organizations and attracted hundreds of millions of dollars more in grants from many other sources.

“When we invest in music and museums, in poetry and performances, we are investing in the fiber that strengthens our communities. Really good art inspires and explains, ennobles, and challenges, and helps us understand and connect to a place, and to one another. Integrating technology keeps all that relevant.” –Victoria Rogers, Knight Foundation Vice President of Arts

Knight Arts has a geographic focus, eight cities where the Knight brothers owned and operated newspapers: Akron, Charlotte, Detroit, Macon, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose, and St. Paul. With an intentional strategy to be the second- or third-largest funder of arts institutions, and the number one funder of artists and emerging organizations, Knight aims to make art fully accessible throughout each city.

Jennifer Clay: Eyes Of The Skin
Clay’s video game uses textiles and stop-motion animation to explore anxiety, depression, and the concept of being “lost in the woods.” In an immersive installation at Locust Projects, textile sculptures will be shown in concert with the projected video game, which can also be downloaded.