Creating Community through Media Works

PRESENTATION SESSION

Tuesday, October 11, 9:30 am – 11:00 am

Organized by Mark Valdez, executive director, Network of Ensemble Theaters.

Presented by Joe Lambert, founder and executive director, Center for Digital Storytelling; Nick Slie, artistic director, Mondo Bizarro.

The media ecology is providing whole new ways for arts organizations to directly engage their base communities. Building on a rich tradition of community-engaged art making, artists are now employing new media and technology—iPhone apps, Google maps, cell phones, or Facebook—as part of their activities (and without the need for expensive web portals or elaborate media production strategies). In this session we will look at real world examples, including iWitness Central City in New Orleans’ 7th Ward, the Beck Cultural Tour iPhone app used in Knoxville, and the work of the Center for Digital Storytelling, to examine how artists are applying media to create, invigorate, and redefine both art and community.