Experiments in Arts Engagement: Case Studies

This set of seven case studies provides real-world examples and practical tips to enrich lessons identified in prior report, "Emerging Lessons and Implications from the Exploring Engagement Fund." The nine featured arts organizations vary by size, discipline, and geography. All pursue projects to engage participants from communities of color and low-income groups

Mobile language learning now and in the future

The widespread ownership of mobile devices such as cellphones, personal media players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones and wireless laptops means that ‘mobile learning’ is no longer in the preserve of technical experts and researchers with specialist knowledge. Teachers and learners have begun to integrate mobile technologies into everyday practices and there is evidence of efforts to invent exciting new scenarios of use. Language learning is one of the disciplines that looks set to benefit from these developments. Learners can make good use of the facilities to record and to listen to audio at any time, supported by the rising availability of podcasts and the ‘always on’ characteristics of portable devices which encourage spontaneous interactions. Mobile learning promises to deliver closer integration of language learning with everyday communication needs and cultural experiences

Arts for All: Connecting to New Audiences

Summarizes discussions among arts leaders and experts at an April 2008 conference on how to build arts appreciation and participation in a new environment through better marketing, new technology, and audience research

Capturing the Visitor Profile for a Personalized Mobile Museum Experience: an Indirect Approach

An increasing number of museums and cultural institutions around the world use personalized, mostly mobile, museum guides to enhance visitor experiences. However since a typical museum visit may last a few minutes and visitors might only visit once, the personalization processes need to be quick and efficient, ensuring the engagement of the visitor. In this paper we investigate the use of indirect profiling methods through a visitor quiz, in order to provide the visitor with specific museum content. Building on our experience of a first study aimed at the design, implementation and user testing of a short quiz version at the Acropolis Museum, a second parallel study was devised. This paper introduces this research, which collected and analyzed data from two environments: the Acropolis Museum and social media (i.e. Facebook). Key profiling issues are identified, results are presented, and guidelines towards a generalized approach for the profiling needs of cultural institutions are discussed

A place for culture: developing a local culture offer for all children and young people

Report about how "For the first time ever our children and young people will be given the chance, under the law, to experience at least five hours high quality cultural activities each week.

Toward a model of computational attention based on expressive behavior: applications to cultural heritage scenarios

Our project goals consisted in the development of attention-based analysis of human expressive behavior and the implementation of real-time algorithm in EyesWeb XMI in order to improve naturalness of human-computer interaction and context-based monitoring of human behavior. To this aim, perceptual-model that mimic human attentional processes was developed for expressivity analysis and modeled by entropy. Museum scenarios were selected as an ecological test-bed to elaborate three experiments that focus on visitor profiling and visitors flow regulation

The Media Trade in Virtual Design

As media attention has become a dominating force within the design economy, visibility became the combustible that fuels the current design industry. Designed objects were once real products, but are now often prototypes, props to be exhibited and photographed, whose role is to fill space in the media, raise the media profile of their creators and convey the name of brokers, sponsors and partners. As a result celebrated design objects are now rare pieces that are highly visible in the virtual media, while they are virtually absent from the conventional market. For industry, this trajectory of design makes them props to fill space in the media, raise the media profile of their creators and ‘brand’ the name of brokers, sponsors and partners. Today a designer has to be successful in the media in order to attract industry attention. This paper observes the way designers make virtue of their visibility in mediated contexts, thus redefining the industrial model of design practice. Simultaneously, the paper looks at the way the media makes use of its influence in a new virtual design context, producing informed speculations for the evolution of design activities. And in order to contextualize this evolution the paper follows a trajectory from the history of design to build a background to this foreground

Spartan Daily, October 22, 2007

Volume 129, Issue 31https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/10403/thumbnail.jp

Making Connections for Community Change - The Staten Island Foundation Biennial Report: Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015

The Staten Island Foundation has released its Biennial Report for Fiscal Years 2014-2015. Highlights include:Messages from the Foundation's Chair and Executive Director: Looking Back, Looking Ahead;An infographic summarizing the Foundation's Hurricane Sandy funding to date;Stories on how the Foundation is engaging the community, cultivating leadership for an emerging future, and extending its reach through catalytic connections.The Staten Island Foundation is a private foundation established in 1997 to improve the quality of life on Staten Island. To date, the Foundation has provided over $50 million to hundreds of local nonprofits with strong relationships and deep knowledge of the borough's operating ecosystem. In partnership with the local community, nonprofit, public and private sectors, the Foundation strives to ensure this vibrant, diverse community -- especially its least advantaged -- has access to the resources necessary to maximize its potential. With a results orientation, the Foundation views its support as an investment in change, the measure of changed lives for a better community