Grinnell College receives grant for initiative connecting arts and technology

Grinnell College will use grant funding to connect its areas of arts education with emerging technologies through new campus space, programming and more.

The Grinnell private college announced in a news release it received $600,000 from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation to implement a four-year initiative that will involve the creation of an “intermedia space” as well as courses, faculty development and collaboration opportunities and student experiences to help them thrive in an artistic world increasingly influenced by technology.

“The liberal arts encourage students to ask bold questions, explore new ideas, and dynamically connect knowledge across disciplines,” Grinnell College President Anne Harris said in the release. “This generous support from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation allows us to build on those strengths by creating new opportunities for students and faculty to experiment and collaborate at the intersection of technology and the arts. We’re grateful for the Foundation’s investment in Grinnell’s students and in the future of creative learning.”

The new space will support teaching and experimentation with technology alongside events and project installations, according to the release. Artists will visit Grinnell through the initiative as well, and students will have travel opportunities to experience art being created off campus.

Grant funding will also support faculty work and collaboration in redesigning existing courses and developing new interdisciplinary programs, the release stated, and will help faculty in their own technology training. Students and faculty, as well as artists and academics, will showcase the work made through the grant in “two public symposia,” the release stated.

Professor Craig Quintero, who will oversee the initiative in its first year, said in the release the college will hold an informational session in September to “provide details about the funding parameters” while getting community feedback on how art and technology at the college should work together.

Grinnell faculty are already looking into innovations in areas like digital music, virtual reality and more, Quintero said in the release, and funding from the grant will allow them to both deepen and expand their research.

“The grant is an amazing acknowledgement of the innovative work already being created in the arts at the College, while also providing funding to enable faculty to explore new digital mediums and add more technology-based projects to the curriculum,” Quintero said in the release.