Oolite Arts Will Offer Housing Stipend, Digital Lab to Artists with $1.25 million from Knight Foundation

Oolite Arts, one of Miami’s largest support organizations for artists, will offer its resident artists a $ 1,000-a-month housing stipend to ease the impact of the city’s affordability crisis, thanks to new funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced today.

“As a cultural community, we need to find ways to ensure that artists who chose to make South Florida their home can afford to live here. The arts sector, which is one of Miami’s greatest assets, will only thrive if we find solutions. We’re excited Knight Foundation has stepped forward to help our resident artists bridge the financial gap,” said Dennis Scholl, Oolite Arts’ president and CEO.

In addition, the $1.25 million in funding will create a Film & Digital Lab at Oolite Arts’ new home in the City of Miami. Oolite Arts also will hire a Chief Technology Officer to lead the lab and the organization’s efforts to help artists work at the intersection of art and technology.

“Oolite Arts is always finding new and interesting ways to inform, engage, and connect people through art,” said Victoria Rogers, Knight’s arts program vice president. “We’re excited to support their artist and residence program, which will help sustain an innovative learning center in the heart of Miami, well into the future.”

“Knight is leading the way on innovation in the arts,” Scholl added. “We’re thrilled to be able to provide new tools and a workspace to artists to evolve their practice through technology.”

The funding is part of Knight Foundation’s new $40.7 million investment in local arts organizations and initiatives that use technology in their practice to enhance the way art is produced, shared and experienced.

Oolite Arts has championed artists since its founding in 1984, by providing artists with studios, financial support through programs like The Ellies, Miami’s Visual Arts Awards, professional development workshops, curator visits and more. Oolite is developing a new campus at 75 NW 72nd St., where it will offer the Film and Digital Lab, as it expands to meet the needs of Miami’s growing arts community.

The housing stipend for resident visual artists will be offered beginning in 2024.

 

About Oolite Arts

Oolite Arts strives to empower artists and enrich communities. Established in 1984, Oolite’s mission is to support artists and advance the knowledge and practice of contemporary visual arts. Oolite Arts creates opportunities for experimentation and innovation and encourages the exchange of ideas across diverse cultures through residencies, exhibitions, public programs, education and outreach.

Exhibitions and programs at Oolite Arts are made possible with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council; the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation at the Miami Foundation; the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation; and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

For more information, visit oolitearts.org. Follow @oolitearts on social media.

 

Photo Credit: Oolite Arts

Date Posted: November 29, 2022