Detroit Turns to Tech to Enhance Its Vibrant Art Scene
Source: Gov Tech
The Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship has launched a new mural map and smartphone app to bring attention to the work of local art and artists. In recent years, the city has focused on replacing graffiti with murals.
The city of Detroit’s Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship (ACE) has introduced a new map and smartphone app to highlight the work of local art and artists.
Organizations are increasingly using technology like this to improve art exhibits, as seen at the university level in places like the University of Montana and Indiana State University. And while some cities are using data to tackle the issue of blight in their communities, Detroit is leveraging of the power of art.
Two resulting tools launched in October now help city residents find and learn about the art in their city: a map, which can be found on the ACE website, and an app, created by art technology company CANVS, which now includes information about Detroit artwork and creators. The map is also powered by CANVS technology.
The effort started with a mission to remove graffiti, which the city has tackled through a program called City Walls. The program, first launched in 2017, involves hiring local artists to create murals in the place of graffiti — work that was paid for through the city’s newly established public art fund, explained Rochelle Riley, the city’s director of arts and culture.
“Technology and art have always enhanced each other,” Riley stated. “The worldwide web is a museum; it’s not only an information superhighway, you can sit all day and look up different artists and see amazing work.”
This undertaking, Riley said, was a way to put Detroit on the map of art they should be looking at — whether in person or virtually.