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Art(ists) on the Verge 2: Grants for new media artists in minnesota

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Minneapolis-based Northern Lights.mn has announced the second year of Ar(ists) on the Verge: Northern Lights announces a second round of Art(ists) on the Verge commissions (AOV2). AOV2 is an intensive, mentor-based fellowship program for 5 Minnesota-based, emerging artists or artist groups working experimentally at the intersection of art,  technology, and digital culture with a focus [...]

Photo by k0a1a.net.

Minneapolis-based Northern Lights.mn has announced the second year of Ar(ists) on the Verge:

Northern Lights announces a second round of Art(ists) on the Verge commissions (AOV2). AOV2 is an intensive, mentor-based fellowship program for 5 Minnesota-based, emerging artists or artist groups working experimentally at the intersection of art,  technology, and digital culture with a focus on network-based practices that are interactive and/or participatory. AOV2 is generously supported by the Jerome Foundation.

Northern Lights was founded by former Walker New Media Curator Steve Dietz. The grants this year will be juried by Dietz, along with Kathleen Forde, Curator for Time-Based Arts at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) in Troy, NY, and the Walker’s chief curator, Darsie Alexander.

The resulting show  show at the Weisman Art Museum from last years grantees was worth checking out. It is good to see work being done to create our own new media art structures here in Minnesota, rather than watching cool things like Eyebeam happen from afar.

And by the way, Northern Lights’ blog, Public Address, has become one of my favorite reads for neat artwork being made around the world. I confess I find a lot of art blogs rather dry and esoteric, but not Public Address. And, this may seem somewhat mundane and obvious, but near every post has an interesting image, which is nice for an art blog.

Access the Walker’s website from Minneapolis Public WiFi

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If you’re visiting town and are out and about, getting info on the Walker and other cultural institutions in the city via the web just got easier. Minneapolis’ city-wide wireless network now lets users access walkerart.org without being a subscriber. Here’s how it works: On your computer, select the “City of Minneapolis Public WiFi” network. [...]

If you’re visiting town and are out and about, getting info on the Walker and other cultural institutions in the city via the web just got easier. Minneapolis’ city-wide wireless network now lets users access walkerart.org without being a subscriber. Here’s how it works:

On your computer, select the “City of Minneapolis Public WiFi” network.

select_wifi

Open your browser and point yourself to walkerart.org. That should do it. You may be directed to a user agreement log in screen and then the “walled garden” of Minneapolis city information and lists of other accessible community sites. The Walker is listed under Area Arts & Culture > Arts & Museums > Art Museums.

Wireless Log In Screen

Wireless Log In Screen

Minneapolis Dowtown Area Walled Garden Portal

Minneapolis Dowtown Area Walled Garden Portal


A brief history of Minneapolis Municipal WiFi

Several years ago, the City of Minneapolis joined with USI Wireless to build out a city-wide network. The goal was to provide access for city government and citizens. The city would be a core tenant, paying USI, and USI would sell access to citizens. The city required USI to build a community portal and USI must provide grants out of it’s profits to non-profits working to bridge the digital divide.

Over the last several years, the network has slowly been built out. Right now there are some problem areas, which include Loring Park and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. My understanding is that these areas should see service sometime soon, though I’m not sure of any exact plans on the Sculpture Garden.

There are a couple things I have really liked about the network:

  • We’re doing it. A lot of cities have talked about building municipal wifi, and then discover large problems and things don’t work well. There have been some issues with in Minneapolis, it is taking longer to build the network than originally thought, but my impression is that it has worked fairly well.
  • It’s network neutral. The agreement between the city and USI specifically requires USI to not hinder any type of traffic over another.
  • Parts of it are free. This is how you can get to our site for free.
  • It’s low cost. The cost for being a subscriber is pretty low, compared to other wire-based providers.
  • It’s local. USI is a local company.

For more information on the network and the history, Peter Fleck has been blogging about Minneapolis WiFi for some time.