March Issue 2000
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Creates Webby Awards for Online Art
David A. Ross, director of the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), together with Tiffany Shlain, director
and founder of The Webby Awards, announced the establishment of
a new international prize to recognize and encourage artists working
in online media around the world. The SFMOMA Webby Prize for Excellence
in Online Art will offer $50,000 annually to an artist or artists
for a body of work whose primary focus is to be experienced online
and that explores and expands the distinctive capacity of the
online medium.
The first annual SFMOMA Webby Prize will be presented on May 11
at The Webby Awards 2000, to be held in San Francisco's historic
Nob Hill Masonic Center. The Webby Awards, the leading international
honors for Web sites, are presented by The International Academy
of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS), a global organization
dedicated to the creative, technical and professional progress
of new media.
"Our purpose is to call attention to this developing technology as a medium for creative expression and to encourage those exploring its aesthetic potential," stated Ross. "Just as photography was dawning as an artistic medium 100 years ago-and video only 30 years ago-so today, artists around the world have begun to work with new online technology, exploring both its inherent properties, as well as its application as a tool in the service of individual creativity. The Webby Awards are the perfect partner in this effort, and we are delighted to be collaborating with them."
Tiffany Shlain, who is also president of the
Academy, added, "The Webby Awards have been at the forefront
of recognizing and celebrating Web-based art, and this prize-the
first Webby Award to be granted to an individual-represents an
important step forward for the discipline. We are thrilled to
be working with an institution like SFMOMA that shares our commitment
to advancing artistic innovation in this emerging field."
The SFMOMA Webby Prize will be administered by The Academy, with
the judging panel consisting of representatives from SFMOMA as
well as other leading experts in online art. The prize pool of
$50,000-provided through the generosity of an anonymous SFMOMA
donor-will be granted to an individual or may be divided among
up to three artists, at the discretion of the panel. The winning
artists will also have their work exhibited in "e.space,"
SFMOMA's new online gallery to be launched in mid-February at
(http://www.sfmoma.org).
The call for entries will close Mar. 14, 2000.
Information on guidelines and entry procedures will be available
at (http://www.webbyawards.com), (http://www.sfmoma.org), and
(http://www.iadas.net).
Immediately following The Webby Awards 2000, SFMOMA will host
and present an international symposium on online art. Participants
will include winning artist(s), as well as a roster of other leading
figures in the digital and online art fields.
SFMOMA, founded in 1935, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
exists to collect, preserve, present, and interpret the best of
contemporary and modern art for the purpose of enriching people's
lives through aesthetic and learning experiences. SFMOMA has distinguished
itself as one of the leading museums internationally exploring
art-making and arts education in digital media and the World Wide
Web. SFMOMA has pioneered the exploration of design using digital
media and is the only museum in the United States to acquire Web
sites for its permanent collection of design. These holdings,
soon to be joined by online commissioned art, will be exhibited
on a rotating basis when the Museum launches "e.space,"
an online gallery housed on its redesigned Web site, next month.
The Museum has also produced three award-winning multimedia educational
programs.
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences is dedicated
to the creative, technical, and professional progress of new media.
The goal of the Academy is to assemble a unique and brilliant
panel of leading new media experts, Web visionaries, journalists,
and luminaries to propel the new medium into and through the new
millennium. There are currently over 200 members, including diverse
experts such as film director Francis Ford Coppola, musician David
Bowie, Chairman of Miramax Talk Media Tina Brown, cyberguru Esther
Dyson, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, Infoseek Chairman Steve
Kirsch, and computer scientist Jaron Lanier, as well as writers
and editors from publications such as Wired, Details, Fast
Company, Elle, ARTBYTE, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times,
Rolling Stone, Vibe, Forbes, Premier, PC World, and Jane.
For more information, visit (http://www.iadas.net).
The Webby Awards, have been hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet" by Entertainment Weekly, The Webby Awards are the leading creative honors for digital media. Nominees and winners are chosen by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The Webby Awards are an IDG event. Sponsors for the 2000 Webby Awards include: Hewlett-Packard, Visa, Metamor Consulting Solutions, vivid studios, BeSeen, Metropolis, Access Magazine, Tipworld, ARTBYTE, LinkExchange, and MacWorld. Balloting is audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. For more information, visit (http://www.webbyawards.com).
IDG publishes more than 290 computer magazines and newspapers and 700 book titles and offers on-line users the largest network of technology-specific sites around the world through IDG.net, which comprises more than 240 targeted Web sites in 55 countries. IDG is also a leading producer of 168 computer-related expositions worldwide, and provides IT market analysis through 49 offices in 41 countries worldwide. Company information is available at (http://www.idg.com).
For further information contact Patrick Kowalczyk, e-mail at (patrick@mkpr.com), or call 212/627-8098 or Maria Landin, e-mail at (maria@mkpr.com), or call 212/627-8098.
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