The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has named Georgia Tech’s Office of the Arts one of 10 teams of performing arts organizations and artists nationwide that will receive a combined total of $1.475 million for their efforts to develop public demand for jazz, theatre and/or contemporary dance.

In its two-year, $150,000 project, Georgia Tech and choreographer Jonah Bokaer will work together to develop “Applied Movement: App Development for Choreography,” which will be a framework consisting of software components that enable groups to participate in a shared movement-based artistic and educational experience by using their mobile phones.

In 2010-2011, Jonah Bokaer participated as an ARTech resident artist at Georgia Tech and through that residency he laid the ground work for further development with these constituent groups: the students and faculty of Georgia Tech; the local dance community; and the students of our partner elementary schools, Drew Charter School and Centennial Place Elementary. In this new project he will continue to work with these three groups.

Unlike most residency programs, which focus on the creation of new work and creative time for artists, the Doris Duke Artist Residencies to Build Demand for the Arts grants instead support partnerships between artists and organizations collaborating in inventive ways to create and pilot methods for reaching the public and developing their interest in and access to the performing arts. These partnerships also promote deeper, longer relationships as well as new kinds of conversation and cooperation between organizations and artists. Other universities receiving grants through this fund include the University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota.

“We are especially honored to be awarded this prestigious grant this year,” says Tech’s Vice President of Student Affairs William Schafer. “The funding provides the Office of the Arts with an invaluable opportunity to further build upon the success of its residency program with Jonah Bokaer, to develop innovative academic connections between art and technology, and to demonstrate the Institute’s commitment to the arts as outlined in Georgia Tech’s Strategic Plan.”