Dear AMT Lab readers,

Welcome to another year with the Arts Management and Technology Laboratory! Despite 2020 looking completely different than any year I’ve experienced, I am excited to take over as Chief Editor of the platform for 2020-2021. Following Lydia Kilian’s tenure as Chief Editor, during which she focused on the applications of technology to music education, blockchain, music streaming and more, I am looking forward to digging into my interests regarding how the arts, technology, and policy intersect (something I touched on as a contributor last year). 

A lot of us are feeling more connected to technology than ever before as we do our best to stay safe during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was a summer of Zoom meetings and Zoom happy hours, virtual museum tours, livestreamed concerts, and VR music festivals. As a result, some of our research this year will focus on arts organizations’ digital futures, including tools for virtual programs and remote work models. 

As technology becomes continuously more integrated in our daily lives—both related to and exclusive of Covid-19—it has also led us to consider the ethics surrounding the application of various technologies such as AI and blockchain. Our contributors will investigate what ethical considerations need to be addressed by arts organizations when implementing new tools.

This summer also saw widespread—and overdue—racial reckoning in the United States. Neither technology nor the arts are immune from racial inequity, and this year, we will do our best to explore how technology can make the arts more equitable while interrogating its shortcomings.

Other research themes for this year will include Community & Civic Engagement, Data Analytics, Digital Security & Infrastructure, Machine Learning & AI, Blockchain, CRM Systems, Social Media & Public Policy, Tech for Politics & Advocacy, and Arts Education.

I am excited to move from the role of contributor to Chief Editor and ready keep investigating the roles technology can play in arts management. I look forward to hearing your feedback throughout this year as innovation in the arts and technology continues.

Lutie Rodriguez, Chief Editor of Research

Lutie is a second-year student in the Master of Arts Management program at Carnegie Mellon. Coming from a writing background, she is interested in the arts’ and technology’s capacity to aid expression and communication. Lutie completed her undergraduate degree at Texas Christian University where she double majored in Writing and Music. Professionally, she has worked at the Arts Council of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Texans for the Arts Foundation in a variety of internships. Her research interests lie in arts policy and data privacy.

lutie@cmu.edu