In this episode of our Let’s Talk podcast, host Maraika Lumholdt talks with B Crittenden, Manager of Corporate Support at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra about how live streaming changed the arts world during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and how it continues to serve audiences despite the return to in-person programming.

In the latest installment of our Let’s Talk podcast series, AMT Lab staff member Samantha Sonnet interviews interdisciplinary scholar and creative, Dorothy Santos. The two discuss the future of AI, identity, tech and culture, tarot reading, and much more. 

In the latest installment of our Let’s Talk podcast series, AMT Lab staff member Samantha Sonnet interviews interdisciplinary scholar and creative, Dorothy Santos. The two discuss the future of AI, identity, tech and culture, tarot reading, and much more.

In this podcast interview, AMT Lab staff member Natalie Larsen talks with Jeff Poulin, the founder, and Managing Director of Creative Generation, a values-driven global collective that believes that youth create change. In the first part of our podcast interviews, Jeff talked about what arts advocacy is, and how we can begin to think of ourselves as advocates. In the second part of our podcast interviews, Jeff discussed the intersection of the arts with other issues, and the importance of arts advocacy in the digital age.

In this podcast interview, AMT Lab staff member Natalie Larsen talks with Jeff Poulin, the founder, and Managing Director of Creative Generation, a values-driven global collective that believes that youth create change. In the first part of our podcast interviews, Jeff talked about what arts advocacy is, and how we can begin to think of ourselves as advocates. In the second part of our podcast interviews, Jeff discussed the intersection of the arts with other issues, and the importance of arts advocacy in the digital age.

In the latest installment of our Let’s Talk podcast series, AMT Lab contributors Ellena Sakai and Blake Aber are interviewed by host Maraika Lumholdt discuss their research into arts education and its transformative power, as well as the potentials for GIS to enhance connections with art in the museum space.

In this installment of the Let’s Talk podcast series, AMT Lab staff Rachel Broughton and Samantha Sonnet discuss innovative user experience (UX) design in museums, as well as digital engagement with museums and where both fields might be headed in the future.

In this month’s installment of the Let’s Talk podcast series, staff members Natalie Larsen and Maraika Lumholdt discuss some of the biggest and most influential tech scandals we saw occur in 2022, and how they affect the ongoing of arts organizations. They also discuss where we might see policy headed in 2023.

Covering industry news from November 2022, AMT Lab staff members Natalie Larsen and Maraika Lumholdt discuss recent failures in big tech, crypto, and the ticketing industry, as well as how AI continues to change the arts. 

In the latest installment of the Let’s Talk Podcast Interview series, AMT Lab staff member Natalie Larsen interviews a group of Carnegie Mellon University students & faculty who worked conjointly on a week-long “Jam"' at the Textiles Lab in order to create a fabric that produces sounds when stretched and manipulated.

In this month’s installment of our Let’s Talk podcast series, AMT Lab staff Maraika Lumholdt and Natalie Larsen continue discussing the ever-evolving world of technology and privacy policy, especially in the realms of theater and music. The AI Bill of Rights, an essential new blueprint for the future of technology policy, is also examined.

In this podcast interview, AMT Lab staff members Rachel Broughton and Maraika Lumholdt talk with Mikael Owunna, a Nigerian American multi-media artist, filmmaker, and engineer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mikael discusses how technology, as presented in traditional African cosmologies, has influenced his creative practice and shaped his recent works.

In the latest installment of our Let’s Talk podcast series, AMTlab staff members Maraika Lumholdt and Natalie Larsen discuss recent news in NFTs and policies, and their implications for the future. They also discuss AI as an artistic collaborator and the ethical, moral, and legal issues that go along with it.

In this installment of Let’s Talk, Chief Editor of Research Liz Forrey and Summer Social Media and Marketing Manager Maraika Lumholdt talk about what has been happening at the intersection of art and tech thus far in August. The conversation covers recent uses and developments with Dall-E and Crayion, how NFTs and apps like TikTiok are becoming relevant in the music industry, and how data privacy issues are already playing a big role in legal battles related to abortion in the United States.

The following articles are listed in order of discussion:

1. HitPiece Officially Launches Music Artist NFT Platform and Announces First-of-its-Kind Partnership with Audible Magic to Ensure Authentic Experiences

2. Ticketmaster and TikTok team up to sell tickets on your FYP

3. Surreal or too real? Breathtaking AI tool DALL-E takes its images to a bigger stage

4. This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute a Teenager for Abortion

This is the second in a two-part conversation series with Andrew Plumley, the current Head of Equity and Impact for Arabella Advisors, and former Senior Director of Equity and Culture at the American Alliance of Museums, where he oversaw both AAM's internal DEAI work, as well as the Facing Change initiative, advancing museum board diversity and inclusion. In this episode, Victoria and Andrew discuss the four “Is” of oppression and how to counteract them, what decolonization efforts look like in the museum space given the history of stolen artifacts, and the top three changes Andrew suggests for arts organizations working toward implementing DEAI practices.

This is the first in a two-part conversation series with Andrew Plumley, the current Head of Equity and Impact for Arabella Advisors, and former Senior Director of Equity and Culture at the American Alliance of Museums, where he oversaw both AAM's internal DEAI work, as well as the Facing Change initiative, advancing museum board diversity and inclusion. In this episode, Victoria and Andrew discuss the biggest changes you’ve seen museums make in response to the socio-political reckoning of 2020, how to increase diversity in museum board leadership, and how arts organizations take a more active role in overcoming the discomfort Americans are often conditioned to feel when discussing the issue of race.

In this episode, Victoria Sprowls interviews Rachel Hite, the Advancement Officer at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and Liz McFarlin-Marciak, the Director of Major and Planned Giving at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Conversations touch on the pros and cons of virtual benefits, the case they both make for giving at their non-profits, and the most helpful technologies for planned giving - including some advice about crypto-giving.

In this episode, Victoria Sprowls interviews David Nutt, who has worked at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestra before landing in his current position as the Director of Sales and Advertising at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Conversations touch on the effect of the pandemic on ticket sales and marketing for operas and symphonies, utilizing social media as a marketing tool, and the impact the community the organization is located in has on the organization.

In this episode, Victoria Sprowls interviews Theo George, a Masters of Arts Management alumni here at Carnegie Mellon, and the current Director of Marketing and Communications at SNF Parkway Theater, which is also the home to the Maryland Film Festival. Conversations touch on the challenges of running an independent movie theater, how to instill a sense of community into the movie-going experience, and what the future of movie-going might look like given day-and-date movie releases on streaming services.

In this episode, Victoria Sprowls interviews two Carnegie Mellon, Masters of Arts Management candidates: Olivia Browdy, currently the Social Media Manager at Symphony Tacoma, and Veronica Lopez, the Management Coordinator at Volta Music Foundation. The three discuss ways to integrate technology into music education moving forward. The conversation touches on how technology can alleviate challenges facing music education in underserved communities, how technology has changed the approach to music education, and whether technology will lessen the need for in-person music education.

In this episode, Victoria Sprowls interviews Darren Mok, a senior computer science major at Carnegie Mellon University and entrepreneur/co-founder of Pyx_Labs. Darren and Victoria discuss the potential for fashion and NFTs to intersect in both the physical and meta world. Conversations touch on creating physical fashion pieces utilizing NFTs, why NFTs are not just a passing fad, what to look out for in terms of NFT scams, and what there is to look forward to in the future of fashion and NFTs.

In this episode, Victoria Sprowls and Andrew Wolverton interview Tom Kalnas, an AMT Lab contributor, and Eric Neal, a Third Act founder, about NFTs and their use cases in both film and theater. Tom Kalnas discusses the potential for NFTs as smart contracts that distribute royalties, as well as fundraising tools in indie film production. Then, Eric Neal highlights the future of NFTs in theater, answering many questions about how the process works and pointing out how NFTs can enhance the theater-going experience as commemorative, sought-after collectibles.

In this guest-produced episode, Sara Bogomolny and Shun-Sho Carmack dive deep into collaboration. They discuss how UNESCO is attempting to save our intangible cultural heritages through collaboration, the fact that switching to a hybrid work model recontextualizes everyone's relationship to their jobs and co-workers, how to orchestrate an ethical reopening of the workforce, and whether collaborating in remote environments increases the potential for equality in the workplace.

In today’s Let’s Talk, Victoria discusses some possible causes for the declining viewership of the Super Bowl, despite Sunday Night Football viewership remaining steady, before being joined by Shambhavi Mishra to discuss the future of tech in music composition. Topics touch on the innovation inherent in being able to create music from one’s bedroom, how composers are using TikTok to gain a following and respect in the music industry, and what the future of AI looks like in musical composition.

In this guest-produced episode, Kopal Srivastava and Morgan Hogenmiller dive deep into virtual reality applications. They discuss the social and cultural applications for VR with Tom Corbett, a CMU faculty member at iDeate Lab, before experiencing the possibilities of VR art and concerts firsthand. After using Soundscape VR and Tilt Brush, Kopal and Morgan discuss the ways VR technology might be used in the future and what changes need to be made in order for immersive experiences in the metaverse to be more comfortable and rewarding.

In this interview episode, Andrew is joined by Jim McCarthy, the co-founder and CEO of Stellar Tickets and Goldstar, to discuss how theatres can cultivate broader audiences with livestreaming and how it will grow in the next three years. The conversation touches on how livestreaming is going to be a part of the next generation of TheaterMakers, how organizations can increase community via livestreamed events, and how livestreaming is the ticket to connecting with audiences across the globe.

Victoria is joined by AMT Lab contributors, Ethan Jones and Elizabeth Forrey, to discuss best practices around data collection. Topics touch on streaming services data transparency (or lack thereof), how big tech companies use your data, how arts organizations can use data collection to their advantage, and whether or not it's actually prudent to do so.

Victoria is joined by AMT Lab contributor, Georgia Calawerts, to discuss the environmental footprint of the film industry and the steps entertainment companies can take to decrease their carbon footprint. Conversations touch on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), carbon offsetting versus net-zero emissions, the environmental impact of a single episode of Television, what some companies are doing to counteract their effect on the environment, and what others can learn from these efforts.

On this month's Let’s Talk, Victoria and Andrew dive into the Twitch security breach and the privacy implications of Facebook attempting to build out the metaverse (a 3D virtual space where people interact with each other as avatars in a real-world space) when it seems they, and other Big Tech companies, have little concern with people’s private information. The two take some time to discuss the importance of these events for arts organizations.

In this episode, B Crittenden and Lutie Rodriguez with guest Ariel Miller focus on recent news surrounding two popular apps: TikTok and Spotify. From biometric data collection to speech analysis on Spotify, what are these apps doing to increase audience engagement and personalization? How does that impact users’ data privacy?

Brendan Ciecko, Founder and CEO of the Boston-based company Cuseum sat down with AMT Lab to discuss his company's newest product offering, digital membership cards.  Cuseum describes itself as a technology partner to museums, galleries and cultural institutions and assists organizations in the development of digital solutions for their operational needs.

Nina Barbado, Director and Founder of Assemble in Pittsburgh, discusses makerspaces with AMT Lab

A conversation with Americans for the Arts' Jeff Poulin.

In this podcast, Dan Gorchynsky of American Eagle Outfitters gives us the scoop on how arts organizations should be thinking about and implementing user experience design.

Curious about jobs that heavily use data in the arts? Listen up.

AMT Lab Chief Editor Katie Grennan recently sat down with Julie Burros, Boston's Chief of Arts and Culture, to talk about all things technology related to her career.

Take 20 minutes to learn about the future of digital arts marketing with industry expert Erik Gensler.

Art should be for everyone. For this week's Podcast Series, Danielle Linzer of The Andy Warhol Museum joins AMT Lab to discuss the importance of inclusion in the arts, and what technology can do to aid in inclusive programming's implementation, outreach and marketing efforts.

Last week, as part of the Master of Arts Management Speaker series, students had the unbelievable opportunity to listen to a talk on leadership by Terre Jones, president and CEO of Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. Terre sat down with me afterwords to discuss the importance of technology in the work done by Wolf Trap. We discuss the importance of utilizing technology to enhance art, not dictate how it behaves, along with using technology to reach specific audiences (read: young people!). Terre also talked to me about how Wolf Trap has used technology in their programs, including their Face of America series and the Wolf Trap Opera. Perhaps the most interesting part of the conversation revolves around the Wolf Trap STEAM educational program - combining STEM learning with art.

Kate Langsdorf, Ford’s Theatre’s Education Programs Manager, was gracious enough to schedule time for a phone interview discussing her role in the creation and implementation of Ford’s Theatre’s distance learning programs. Currently Ford's programs include Virtual Field Trips and a short play entitled Investigating the Lincoln Assassination with Detective McDevitt, and they hope to further expand their offerings in the future.

Ceci Dadisman, Palm Beach Opera's Director of PR and Marketing, sat down with AMTLab to talk about her work and how she utilizes a variety of digital platforms to market more effectively and increase audience engagement. She also offered numerous tips about how arts organizations can get started in the world of new media. 

I sat down with Deeksha Gaur, Woolly's Director of PR and Marketing, to learn more about Woolly's success and the lessons she has learned as an arts marketer in the digital age. The main takeaway? Audiences crave this type of direct interaction and any company can do it. Although Woolly has "technologized" the lobby, coupling a more analog experience with social media elements can inspire a broad conversation around your organization’s art. 

This week, I spoke with Selena Juneau-Vogel, Artful.ly’s Program Director, who has been with the project almost since the beginning. Our wide-ranging conversation covered everything from past names of the project, such as ATHENA (don’t ask her what it stands for, nobody could remember), to the future of CRM, which Selena feels will involve “social CRM”—the integration of social media into patron records.

AMT Lab recently had the pleasure of sitting down to talk with Trudi McCanna, Head of Executive Development at Google. A graduate of the MAM program who has taken her skills from the world of the arts into the world of technology, she had some interesting perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing arts organizations. Due to her experience training leaders throughout Google, she’s also no stranger to helping people solve difficult problems. 

Teaching Arts Through Tech is a 3-part podcast series of interviews with individuals making contributions to the field of integrated arts and tech.  These interviews will also inform my semester-long research project, culminating in a White Paper about using technology to facilitate integrated arts learning.

My first interviewee was Jane Alexander, Chief Information Officer at The Cleveland Museum of Art.