NEW INC
The first museum-led incubator for art, design, and technology
Application deadline: April 1, 2014
www.newmuseum.org
www.newinc.org
New Museum now accepting membership applications for inaugural year of NEW INC, the first museum-led incubator for art, design, and technology
Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director, and Karen Wong, Deputy Director, cofounders of the New Museum’s incubator, NEW INC, together with its Director, Julia Kaganskiy, announced that the Museum is accepting applications for its inaugural group of members. NEW INC will launch in the Museum’s adjacent building in summer 2014. The deadline for applications is April 1.
NEW INC, the first museum-led incubator, is a hybrid, shared workspace and professional development program designed to support creative entrepreneurs working in areas of art, technology, and design. Conceived by the New Museum in 2013, the incubator is a not-for-profit platform that furthers the Museum’s 36-year commitment to new art and new ideas. It will provide a collaborative space for a highly selective, interdisciplinary community of one hundred members to investigate bold and unlikely ideas with a focus on developing a sustainable practice.
“Creatives today are working in unique ways that are cross-disciplinary, collaborative, leveraging technology, and increasingly straddling the line between culture and commerce,” said Julia Kaganskiy, Director of NEW INC. “For those exploring new modes of cultural production, the professional landscape in which they work is still undefined, and few resources and systems exist to support these enterprises, or to address the unique challenges they are encountering.” NEW INC is a response to ongoing changes in cultural production and will provide a lab-like environment and framework for the development of original models in the pursuit of innovation.
Over the course of 12 months, members will have 24/7 access to full-time or part-time coworking desk space, shared resources and equipment, events, and professional development programs. A commitment to mentorship and professional development is one of NEW INC’s distinguishing aspects. Leveraging the New Museum’s international network of staff, trustees, advisors, and affiliates, NEW INC will develop a program that includes business training, skill development, informal peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, networking, and community-building opportunities. Members will also benefit from developing their ideas under the umbrella of the Museum, working in close proximity to anchor tenants Studio-X, a global network of laboratories for exploring the future of the built environment started by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP); Rhizome, a long-time New Museum affiliate who will support the incubator through its expertise and leadership at the intersection of art and technology; as well as with initiatives like IDEAS CITY. Members will also be encouraged to self-organize talks and workshops where they can either present their own work, run a skill-share session, or invite outside experts to share their practice.
The center will offer eight thousand square feet of dedicated workspace, informal gathering areas, two conference rooms, a 40-seat screening room, basic prototyping lab, and other amenities. It will also include 3,000 square feet of studios for artists in residence at the New Museum. The facility will be designed by SO-IL architects (Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu) in collaboration with Gensler.
Members will be selected by Julia Kaganskiy, Karen Wong, Heather Corcoran, Executive Director of Rhizome, David Benjamin, Director of Studio-X New York, along with Lauren Cornell, Curator New Museum 2015 Triennial, Digital Projects, and Museum as Hub. A special advisory board is chaired by New Museum Trustee David B. Heller.
Possible fields of focus include, but are not limited to Visual Arts, Web & Mobile Development, Architecture & Urban Planning, Interactive Installations, Animation & Motion Graphics, Product Design, Game Development, Fashion & Wearable Tech, Experimental Photography, Film & Video, Experimental Music & Sound, Alternative Education, Digital Culture Publications, and Art & Tech Start-ups.
Ideal members will be visionary creative practitioners who embrace risk, investigate what has yet to be discovered or defined, and engage with today’s most provocative issues and ideas.
To learn more about the application process, criteria, membership fees, and amenities, visit newinc.org. Applicants will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis (deadline April 1).
About the initiative
Amplifying the New Museum’s mission, the incubator is the latest in a series of programs developed by the institution to challenge the boundaries and expand the relevance of museum practice in the twenty-first century, foster creative cultural production, and reinforce the Bowery as a place of meaningful innovation. NEW INC will be a dynamic 24/7 center located at 231 Bowery, next door to the Museum’s SANAA-designed building, in a nineteenth-century structure that once was home and studio to such artists as James Rosenquist and Tom Wesselmann.
About the New Museum
Founded in 1977, the New Museum is a center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists from around the world. From its beginnings as a one-room office on Hudson Street to the inauguration of its first freestanding building on the Bowery designed by SANAA in 2007, the New Museum continues to be a place of experimentation and a hub of new art and new ideas.
The New Museum has a long history of incubating ideas, programs, and artworks demonstrated in such successful initiatives as IDEAS CITY, Museum as Hub, Rhizome’s Seven on Seven Conference, and the Generational Triennial. The Museum continues to be a leader at the intersection of art and technology. It was the first museum to create a dedicated space for digital art projects in 2000 (Media Z Lounge), which subsequently led to bringing on Rhizome as an affiliate organization in 2003. Former Rhizome Director, Lauren Cornell, is now organizing the 2015 New Museum Generational Triennial with groundbreaking media artist Ryan Trecartin. For more information, visit newmuseum.org.
Support
NEW INC is made possible by the generous support of the New Museum Board of Trustees.
Public support for this project has been provided by the City of New York through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York City Council. The Ford Foundation has provided major support for the artist residencies at the incubator.
Additional support is made possible by Deutsche Bank and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
