With a new gift of $2 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Wolfsonian–Florida International University opens an exciting chapter in its ongoing digital evolution. The Knight Arts Miami award—which follows Knight Foundation’s Museum of Ideas gift of $3 million in 2012—will further The Wolfsonian’s decade-long efforts to improve collection access, awareness, discovery, and storytelling through online and interactive platforms.
The new $2 million makes possible an ambitious “phase 2” in The Wolfsonian’s multi-year digital strategy, allowing the museum and study center to dramatically step up its integration of technologies into the Wolfsonian way. Building upon prior successes and a previous focus on workflow, digital literacy, data collection, and digitization—which has 115,000 collection images captured and brought online to date—staff will recenter around robust digital content creation and broadening access to, and engagement with, the museum’s collection. The award will also enhance the team’s application of searchability tools and human-centered design, ensuring that the digital department’s goals, principles, and processes can carry the institution well into the future.
“We are honored to partner with Knight Foundation on this next stage of The Wolfsonian’s digital growth,” said Wolfsonian director Casey Steadman. “This transformation goes hand-in-hand with our plans to improve public access to the collection through our building itself—it’s all about sharing more of what we have, bringing our resources to light.”
The $2 million Wolfsonian gift is part of a newly announced $40 million commitment from Knight Foundation in Miami-area cultural organizations and their use of technology to enhance the ways art is produced, shared, and experienced. These investments will bring Knight’s overall Miami arts contributions to $200 million since 2005.
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