Syracuse University School of Information Studies is proud to announce that two faculty members have received a joint research grant from Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY), an organization dedicated to improving the lives and livelihoods of artists.
Interim Dean Jeff Hemsley and Associate Professor Rachel Ivy Clarke will share the $15,000 advocacy grant to incorporate data from the “Portrait of New York State Artists” Survey into an advocacy initiative and strategic communications campaign.
“Data Visualization is what I teach, and I use it in my research. All very technical stuff,” Hemsley said. “I’m excited to work with Rachel, who is a designer and artist, to see how we can push traditionally digital outputs (graphs and charts) into the physical world. I hope that being able to touch physical representations of data will be impactful in ways beyond what would expect from a graph on a computer screen.”
Clarke’s research and approach to teaching are rooted in design. As a non-traditional conceptual artist, she works with textile forms such as knitting and quilting and juxtaposes them with principles of data and classification.
“This advocacy work is something I believe in,” she said. “I am excited to receive this grant and continue melding data work with fiber art, and am looking forward to collaborating with Jeff, whose technical approach will bring new perspectives to my work.”
CRNY launched the survey in March 2022 to build a portrait of the needs, circumstances and experiences of artists across the state. The survey collected data from artists about their artistic practices, financial circumstances, well-being, pandemic experiences and attitudes about policy and advocacy matters.
Following a public Request for Proposals, CRNY reviewed 17 total submissions and selected 11 groups whose analysis and interpretation of the data will effectively demonstrate the challenges confronting artists, as well as offer data-driven solutions.
All resulting research products and campaigns from the iSchool will be provided with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) citation via the National Archive of Data on Arts and Culture, where CRNY’s Portrait of New York State Artists Survey data is permanently archived.