Video History Project

Chronology

An Alliance for the Media Arts in America

Date
1980

An Alliance for the Media Arts in America. Founding conference for National Alliance of Media Arts Centers in Boulder, CO. May 29-31, 1980. Conference report published by the Rocky Mountain Film Center.

Over 130 participants from the field. By-laws were approved for NAMAC's organizational structure, and 17 distinct projects were identified. The 1980-81 Board of Directors Chair was Robert Haller (Anthology Film Archives). The staff Director for the Boulder conference was Virgil Grillo (Rocky Mountain Film Center).

NYS member organizations included AIVF, American Federation of Arts, Anthology Film Archives, Astoria Studios, Chamba Educational Film Services, Collective for Living Cinema, Film Forum, The Film Fund, Film Society of Lincoln Center, Global Village, Independent Feature Project, The Kitchen, Media Study/Buffalo, Millennium, Museum of Modern Art, New Community Cinema, New Medium, Non-Theatrical Film Distributors, Portable Channel, Synapse, Third World Newsreel, TV Lab at WNET, Whitney Museum, Women's Interart Center, Women Make Movies, Young Filmmakers. NAMAC's objectives recognized the needs for the field to act in concert on a national level to achieve an advocacy for the diversity of the media arts, to increase communications and information sharing across all regions, to develop programs which mutually assist members, and to advocate and inform the public about the value of the independent media arts. The 17 project areas defined at the conference included: feasibility study for a media arts center computer network; a survey of post production needs; a survey of filmmaker's lab needs; model national touring project; feasibility of a NAMAC marketplace; touring exhibitions of film and video; information exchange; state arts council funding of media; mailing list exchange; study of media arts activity; newsletter; study of educational issues.

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"An Alliance for the Media Arts in America." Video History Project, Experimental Television Center, 2011. https://www.videohistoryproject.org/alliance-media-arts-america.

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Summary

Founding conference for the National Alliance of Media Arts Centers held in Boulder, CO, May 29–31, 1980; conference report published by the Rocky Mountain Film Center and attended by over 130 participants. By-laws were approved establishing NAMAC's organizational structure and 17 distinct project areas were identified, including a feasibility study for a media arts center computer network and surveys of post-production and filmmaker's lab needs. The 1980–81 Board Chair was Robert Haller (Anthology Film Archives) and the Boulder conference staff Director was Virgil Grillo (Rocky Mountain Film Center); NYS member organizations included AIVF, Anthology Film Archives, Film Forum and Museum of Modern Art.

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Last modified 16 May 2011

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