State of the Field Reports

In 2004 NAMAC conducted four regional think tank discussions with media arts leaders in Atlanta, Georgia; Albany, New York; Columbus, Ohio and Lincoln, Nebraska. Representatives from a total of twenty-eight cities, eight states (including Tennessee, N. Carolina, Oklahoma and Kentucky) and sixty-six organizations were involved in thinking together about the direction of the media arts field. The think tank discussions also served to strengthen relationships and provide feedback to help NAMAC assess its services to the field.

In the fall and winter of 2003, NAMAC conducted think-tank discussions with media arts leaders in the Boston metropolitan area and the triangle area of North Carolina, including Chapel Hill, Durham, Wilmington, and Asheville. NAMAC sought to engage organizations in thinking together about the direction of the independent media field, to strengthen relationships among participating groups, and to generate information to help assess NAMAC s service to the field.

In the fall of 2002, the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC) collaborated with the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF) to present the Media Arts Environmental Scanning Tour of Regional Organizations (MAESTRO). With support from the National Endowment for the Arts, MAESTRO celebrated the media arts and encouraged connections among regional media arts organizations through a series of screenings, workshops and discussions in San Diego, Denver and Chicago.

Last year we asked NAMAC collaborator Paula Manley to design and facilitate a series of think tank discussions with staff leaders in the media arts. We undertook the project as a way to aid NAMAC in evolving its programs and services based on the experiences and needs of independent media organizations in the field. Paula's compiled findings are presented here for MAIN readers.