Bridging the Gap in Art, Design and Computing Programs

Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation recently launched a program to support diversity, equity and inclusion at U.S. college and university programs at the intersection of art, design and computing. The program features one-time grants focused on increasing:

The Foundation awarded five, one-time, multi-year grants to a select group of art universities and colleges through a collaborative process across disciplines and/or departments. This program is tied to our broader mission to support people’s innovation and exploration in art and craft. This subject is especially important to our founders, Delle Maxwell and Pat Hanrahan, given their values and accomplished careers in computer graphics, design and animation. Pat’s A.M. Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is the main source of funding for this program.

To support the expansion of current infrastructure for the Institute’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) strategy as it relates to faculty development, to support the recruitment and retention of diverse students, faculty, and staff for programs at the intersection of the arts, design, and computer-based technology

To strengthen the pipeline of underrepresented minority (URM) students pursuing higher education and careers in computational media (CM) through outreach, curricular innovation, scholarships/fellowships, mentorship and collaboration within Georgia Tech’s Colleges of Computing, Design and the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, and with other partner institutions in Atlanta

To support the development of an Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Baccalaureate (BFA) degree in Gaming and Interactive Arts, which brings together interdisciplinary faculty and students and increases diversity in contemporary, cinematic and computer arts studies and industries

To support an expanded understanding of the cultural, social, and visual significance of movement by developing a paid, post-graduate research fellowship program for artists and scholars whose work engages with the study of and experimentation with movement at the intersection of race and culture

To support retention, graduation and career readiness of diverse student populations by offering scholarships, expanding interdisciplinary capacity and providing opportunities for learning and collaboration between art and science disciplines and across campuses

The Foundation selected these institutions based on their relevant programs and curriculum, institutional commitment to DEI, their proposed project’s potential impact on the two goals of students pursuing interdisciplinary degrees and more equitable curricula, a defined student audience who would benefit, committed institutional leadership, and the potential for sustainability through matching funds.

The mission of the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation is: To support innovative people working in field-based science, arts and crafts, teaching, and protection of the natural world. We operate on the belief that education plays a key role in helping people to fulfill their potential for success in all domains of life. We believe that empowering people who need encouragement at an early or critical point in their careers will have an outsized impact on their work. Supporting under-represented, diverse groups and people who bring a unique perspective to a problem is important. It is these diverse perspectives that enable us to make meaning and discover new things about ourselves and our world.

Beyond the focus of our founders’ careers, we believe that art, design and computing is a good target area for several reasons. Research findings on diversity in higher education suggest it is not enough to focus on attracting a diverse student body. Equally important is ensuring the campus climate is an inclusive and welcoming place for students from diverse backgrounds.

Additionally, art and design departments are relatively more diverse than STEM departments such as computer science. Interdisciplinary areas of study tend to be more open to new ways of teaching and learning. For science and engineering students, being exposed to art and design practices may help them be more creative and innovative; for art and design students, being exposed to the experimental method and the natural sciences may spur them to think of the world differently. In creative fields, we think ensuring diverse perspectives are at the table and encouraged to be there will improve the outputs in the world.

Our founders’ values inform our broader strategy to support under-appreciated subject areas. Across higher education institutions, and in particular art schools, interdisciplinary art, design and computing programs are relatively rare and under-resourced. Our hope is that this program will provide seed funding for art universities and colleges to bridge the gap between these separate but complementary disciplines.