Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum Receives $550,000 Digital Learning Grant

The Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum announced that it has received a pair of grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Entertainment Software Association Foundation for the creation of a digital youth learning center. The funding, totaling $550,000, will assist the building of learning environment at Hirshhorn that "blends technology and curriculum in innovative ways." Hirshhorn will use MacArthur research to promote active content creation in its new "ARTLAB+" workshop initiative, which allows guests to explore museum exhibitions in the context of a professional design studio. "This funding helps us build an immersive and engaging environment where young people can explore a variety of technologies, including digital artworks created by their peers and inspired by film and video from our permanent collection," said Hirshhorn digital learning programs director Ryan Hill. "It gives us an opportunity to create a hothouse culture where young people learn about art from each other." Hirshhorn recent concluded a pilot program of mobile learning workshops in which participants created games and videos while learning the principles of digital art creation.