BLOOMINGTON, IN. – The Arts, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation (AEI) Lab at the Center for Cultural Affairs (CCA) is hosting a second data visualization competition for Indiana University (IU) students using data from a guaranteed income program for artists led by Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY). The competition runs from February 12 through March 8.
The first data visualization competition in the Fall of 2023 had an enthusiastic response from students across campus culminating in three winners. The team, Visionary Trio, received first place with their entry on "Illuminating New York's Artistic Landscape: A Visual Expedition.” The team, composed of Luddy School students Jainish Shingala, Het Vashi and Vaibhav Lodhiya, included three separate perspectives, each presenting a fresh viewpoint on CRNY's objectives, ranging from the varied applicant pool to enrollment dynamics and the amplified voices gathered through surveys.
Second place was awarded to the team, Code Flex, and consisted of Atharv Pramod Jangam, Smit Raichura, and Subhadeep Jana, also from the Luddy School. Their submission, “Bridging Gaps and Building Futures,” investigated the demographic diversity of artist applicants using data visualization from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment, as well as the critical support offered by CRNY in the areas of health, housing, and finance.
The undergraduate award went to Matthew Rushton. Their submission, "Who is CRNY?,” is an interactive data visualization set that showcases marginalized groups who signed up for the Guaranteed Income for Artists and Artist Employment program and highlights New York’s diverse and talented creatives.
The competition is an opportunity for IU students to showcase their talents as graphic designers, visual story-tellers, and data crunchers. The AEI Lab is looking for individual students, or teams of not more than four, who can create interactive visuals using data collected from artists who applied to this novel program. Co-director of the AEI Lab, Professor Doug Noonan, described the CRNY collaboration with the Lab as "an exciting opportunity for our students to be creative and exercise their data skills for a project in the public sector.”
Creatives Rebuild New York is supported by the Mellon Foundation as an initiative to restore New York State’s art and cultural regions after the impact of COVID-19 CRNY operates the Guaranteed Income for Artists and Artist Employment programs, which support individual artists and challenge racial and financial inequalities to help build a more prosperous cultural ecosystem in the arts and cultural sectors with the goal of a more equitable future in New York State.
The AEI Lab, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab (NEA) program, is working with CRNY on two projects. The first project involves integrating the data collected from CRNY’s Guaranteed Income for Artists program into a publicly accessible website primarily for use by policy and government officials and practitioners working in the arts sector and the general public. The website is planned to launch in 2024. The second project is conducting a program evaluation of the Guaranteed Income for Artists program. Professor Joanna Woronkowicz, co-director of the AEI Lab, describes the collaboration between CRNY and the Lab as, “an illustration of the potential for informed policymaking when academics and policymakers work together.”
Interested participants in the 2nd data visualization competition can learn more and sign up here to participate. Winners of the competition can receive up to $3,000. The deadline to sign up is Friday, February 2.
