Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation Commits $1.4 Million to New York City Cultural Organizations

January 25, 2012 at 10:45 am EST

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Funds to Support Innovative Adaption of Emerging Technologies

Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Deutsche Bank, today announced $1.4 million in philanthropic commitments to 15 New York City arts and cultural organizations. The funds were awarded on a competitive basis through the Foundation's long standing Arts & Enterprise initiative which supports the role of cultural institutions in facilitating community revitalization.

The grants were awarded to organizations that proposed initiatives that use emerging technologies to further their educational programming, reach new audiences, engage new artists and maximize their own efficiencies.

One of the recipients, The Brooklyn Children's Museum, plans to use the grant to offer an exhibition design tool and an online sharing community to engage children through the interaction with art and objects in their Digital Media Center. "Kid Curator" will allow young users to create original exhibitions by accessing images from the Museum's collections as well as uploading images they source on their own. The children's virtual exhibitions will be accessible to the public through the Internet and mobile device applications.

Another recipient, The Queens Museum of Art (QMA), will create an Arts and Digital Literacy Program that offers visitors the opportunity to develop content based on personal experiences and interests. The program will use interactive technology such as QR codes, mobile devices and tablet PCs, which will be accessible in multiple languages over time. QMA will draw on its partnership with the Queens Library and The Panorama of the City of New York to curate the work into a digital exhibition accessible through QR codes installed in the Panorama gallery. The program aims to bridge the digital divide amongst the Borough's multitude of non-English speaking immigrant communities.

"New York City's arts organizations have embraced the opportunity to pioneer a new frontier of creativity and community building through the emerging media tools that have altered the daily lives of our cultural landscape," said Gary Hattem, President of the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.

"As the digital world continues to influence art and music, we seek to strengthen the position of cultural institutions as community hubs particularly in their role of expanding opportunities for underserved communities," said Alessandra Digiusto, chief administrative officer of the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.

The full list of recipients includes 651 Arts, Rhizome, The Bronx Museum of Arts, The Bronx River Art Center, The Brooklyn Children's Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, The Museum of African Art, The Museum of Chinese Heritage, The New Museum, The New York Botanical Garden, The Queens Museum of Art, The Staten Island Museum and The Weeksville Heritage Center.

Deutsche Bank launched the Arts & Enterprise program a decade ago to encourage the use of arts, culture and the creative sector to stimulate community revitalization and neighborhood economic development. Since its launch, Deutsche Bank has deployed more than $6.6 million to 42 arts and community organizations in the New York area.

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