This Cultural Alliance residency wants artists and techies to come together

The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance has opened entries for the TechniCulture Innovation Residency Award program, the next phase of the organization’s TechniCulture initiative, which encourages deeper collaborations between Philly’s arts & culture commutity and the tech scene.

Three organizations will be selected and awarded a residency with a technologist or digital agency, a process that will help organizations evaluate their digital needs and develop a plan to launch a project or application that will best suit their mission.

“A lot of the feedback we heard from our 2015 TechniCulture event was that though the cultural community is eager to innovate, the biggest obstacle to breaking into the digital arena isn’t just funding—for many, it’s not knowing where to even begin,” said Maud Lyon, President of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. “This award is a great opportunity for an organization that has the will and passion to innovate, but doesn’t have the capacity or resources to take the first step.”

Now through Friday, August 21, the Cultural Alliance invites its member organizations with an operating budget of $1 million or less to apply online at www.philaculture.org/techniculture.

Each residency will be seeded with a $2,000 stipend for the individual technologist or digital agency assigned to the cultural organization. After their residency, organizations will also be supported in winter 2016 with a curated “design challenge” of technologists, arts professionals, marketers, communications specialists and grantwriters who will help them take their project planning to the next level and think through the next phases of development and implementation, including grant applications to seek full funding of their projects.

At the next TechniCulture event during Philly Tech Week in April 2016, TechniCulture Innovation Residency Award participants will present their project proposals for the opportunity to receive additional support.

In addition, the Alliance is putting out an open call for any interested technologists to participate as potential TechniCulture Innovation Residency Award partners or join a design challenge team. Developers and digital agencies interested in being part of TechniCulture are encouraged to contact Grants & Program Manager Tracy Buchanan at tracyb@philaculture.org.

Image via the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance