entertainment, creative industries, Arts & Culture
Lehan Xu
From Cultural Diplomacy to Creative Cities: A ...

International theatre festivals have long served as sites of cultural exchange, political expression, and artistic innovation. This article traces their evolution from post–World War II cultural diplomacy to their role in today’s “creative city” economy, examining how festivals reflect shifting geopolitical forces, neoliberal policies, and ongoing tensions between global prestige and local representation.

From Cultural Diplomacy to Creative Cities: A History of International Theatre Festival
Arts & Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technology
Hales Wilson
Byte-Sized Culture: Women in Tech/Arts

This Women's History Month, AMT Lab highlights five groundbreaking women redefining the intersection of arts and technology across disciplines spanning new media, algorithmic theater, performance art, music activism, and artificial intelligence. Each trailblazer has used the tools of her time to challenge who gets to be seen, heard, and represented. Their collective body of work makes clear that the future of art and technology will be shaped, in no small part, by women who refused to wait for a seat at the table.

Byte-Sized Culture: Women in Tech/Arts
Film, entertainment, Marketing
Staff Researcher
The Future of Independent Adult Animation: ...

In Part II, this study builds on the industry context established in Part I by shifting from macro-level analysis to audience-centered insights. While Part I identified independent adult animation as a growing global opportunity shaped by evolving production ecosystems and market conditions, Part II examines how these trends translate into audience behavior and engagement. Drawing on survey data from audiences ages 18–35 and interviews with industry professionals, this section explores what viewers are seeking from independent animated films, the factors that drive discovery and theatrical attendance, and the key elements that contribute to commercial and critical success. In doing so, Part II connects broader industry dynamics to actionable insights that inform strategic decision-making for distributors such as NEON.

The Future of Independent Adult Animation: Opportunities and Strategies for NEON, Part II
Artificial Intelligence, creative industries, Laws & Legal
Yao Pei
Art vs. Algorithm: Copyright and Visual Artists ...

This article examines how generative AI is reshaping copyright law and challenging traditional notions of authorship in the visual arts. By outlining key legal principles, including originality, fair use, and human authorship, it explores the growing tension between technological innovation and artists’ rights and highlights the urgent need for clearer legal frameworks in the age of AI.

Art vs. Algorithm: Copyright and Visual Artists in the Age of Generative AI
Film, entertainment, Marketing
Staff Researcher
The Future of Independent Adult Animation: ...

This study provides a foundational analysis of how independent adult animation is emerging as a significant opportunity within the contemporary film industry, with a particular focus on market trends, audience engagement, and the strategic role of distributors. As global demand for animated storytelling continues to grow - driven by streaming platforms, evolving audience tastes, and international co-production networks - independent distributors face increasing pressure to identify sustainable models for developing and distributing animated films. Part I examines the evolution of the independent animation landscape and situates the project’s client, NEON’s, recent exploration of the sector within broader industry trends. Drawing on existing research, industry reports, audience surveys, and expert interviews, this section frames the study’s central research questions and methodology. By outlining the challenges and opportunities surrounding independent adult animation, Part I establishes the conceptual groundwork for the industry interviews, survey analysis, and strategic recommendations that will be presented in Part II.

The Future of Independent Adult Animation: Opportunities and Strategies, Part I

Crowdsourced Digital Art Projects: Centralization and Agency

Crowdsourced Digital Art Projects: Centralization and Agency

As digital crowdsourced art continues as a mode of art making, it is necessary to developed an understanding of which features of digital arts programming are crucial in the engagement of digital audiences. The following analysis of four digital art projects focuses on the participatory, rather than the interactive, specifically projects wherein audiences become artists by participating in the creation of  a piece of art by making one or more creative contributions.  Perhaps not surprising, agency and control were identified as significant to participation. 

Requiem For a Stream: Who's Listening to Classical Music

Requiem For a Stream: Who's Listening to Classical Music

This is the first of a series on orchestras streaming their performances. This installment centers around the audience. Orchestras have done a lot of research on who their audience is, and there is a lot of data on who streams music. This article talks through both sets of observations and find the overlap between the two.  

Emerging Technology for Fundraising: Part 1 of 5

Emerging Technology for Fundraising: Part 1 of 5

Fundraising is a critical component of almost every nonprofit arts enterprise.  This spring, the Arts Management and Technology Lab commissioned a national benchmarking analysis and survey of arts organizations on four emerging digital fundraising pathways:  Text message / SMS giving, peer-to-peer portals, Facebook nonprofit tools, and mobile auction apps.   The following kicks off a 5 part series that highlights the findings.  This article offers specific statistics on fundraising with subsequent pieces providing details on the individual pathways and a summary of the national survey's findings.

#TBT: Google Arts & Culture Progression

#TBT: Google Arts & Culture Progression

Google has been working on arts and culture platforms for several years now. AMT Lab has been reporting on it from the beginning. This #TBT explores the early days of the Google Arts & Culture Project and how it progressed into the app explosion earlier this year where Google used the selfie function on your phone to find artwork that looks like you.

Using Evernote to Mobilize Teams

Using Evernote to Mobilize Teams

Evernote's logo is the profile of an elephant.  Why? Because elephants "never forget."  Evernote is an intuitive virtual solution (although it has an off-line option). It is useful for individuals and businesses and has many features that make it superior to ‘shared drives’ on locations like Google or Dropbox. The following post outlines how our team has used it, but also how Evernote is improving for businesses through its recent launch of ‘Spaces’.

Meeting Audiences Where They Are: The Data Behind Streaming Classical Music

Meeting Audiences Where They Are: The Data Behind Streaming Classical Music

As streaming becomes the most popular method of consuming music, orchestras and opera companies have an additional method of distributing their content. Which organizations are currently taking advantage of streaming and how are they using it? This raw data set helps answer those questions.

Photo source: http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/201611/20869/

Telling Stories with Data: 4 Steps to Making Data Visualizations More Readable

Telling Stories with Data: 4 Steps to Making Data Visualizations More Readable

Data visualization helps art institutions communicate with internal and external communities more effectively and efficiently. There are a numbers of quality data visualization tools available for free, but how arts managers use these tools defines how effective the data visualization. The following four strategies provide a guideline for arts managers to create data visualization with purpose and impact.

Uninterrupted Research: Advancing the Digitization of Archives

Uninterrupted Research: Advancing the Digitization of Archives

Art historical research became more scientific with the accessibility of photography, documenting specific features of work and facilitating visual archiving along with the written word. Storing these elements together provides researches with a more complete vision of the narrative overtime.

Got Arts Funding, Now What? Thank Your Legislators!

Got Arts Funding, Now What? Thank Your Legislators!

Again, we celebrate saving federal funding for arts and culture. However, did you remember to thank your legislators? Contributor Lesly gives tips why expressing gratitude is important AND what digital tools and resources you can use to thank policymakers that support the arts.

UX Design for Accessibility: 6 Steps to WCAG Compliance

UX Design for Accessibility: 6 Steps to WCAG Compliance

The website is a place where participants get to know more about the organization. Designing a webpage that accommodates people with all kinds of different needs is a main step to make the organization accessible. Here are six low-cost, quick web design considerations that any organization can easily employ to improve the website.

Learning How To Visualize Data: Free & Low Cost Professional Development for Beginners

Learning How To Visualize Data: Free & Low Cost Professional Development for Beginners

Graphing is something that many people have had to do, whether it was in 9th grade algebra or on last year’s annual report. For some managers this is a simple task, but for others it is more difficult. Here is a list of how to start learning these skills and where these courses can be found online.

Digital Humanities: Library of Congress Labs Opens Collections for Productivity and Play

Digital Humanities: Library of Congress Labs Opens Collections for Productivity and Play

Archives generally are expected to be places of preservation and documentation, as opposed to innovative research. However, the Library of Congress, America’s oldest archive, just recently unveiled a virtual laboratory space to promote experimental research and creative uses for their aged collections.

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Nonprofit Technology Conference #18NTC

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Nonprofit Technology Conference #18NTC

NTEN's annual conference is always a special treat. Vendors and attendees all focused on making the world a better place while investigating the appropriate role technology plays in that transformation.  With 144 sessions plus keynotes, Birds of a Feather lunch tables, Ignite talks and pre-conference workshops, to say the conference is robust is an understatement.  The following are my main take-away from the conference, but if you are curious for more, be sure to check out their social channels with hashtag #18NTC.