Alison Cornyn

Year: 2015-2017

A collaboration of 20 university partners, States of Incarceration is an exhaustive investigation of the past, present, and future of incarceration. Together with The New School’s Humanities Action Lab team, Picture Projects developed the accompanying web and mobile platforms for States of Incarceration that will grow and progress with the exhibit as it travels across the country. Like the exhibit, it includes interactive portions and addresses each location’s designated topics. A major element of States of Incarceration are the public engagement features. The dialogues are driven by the “Shape the Debate” mobile campaign, users’ ability to “Contribute a Story”, and the podcast series. Further, the site provides resources, historical content, multimedia, and additional supplemental information. Over the next three years, as the exhibition travels across the country engaging each sites distinct populations, States of Incarceration will continue to highlight unique regional and global questions concerning incarceration and human rights. The project was generously supported by: The National Endowment for the Humanities, The Institute of Museum and Library Services, Whiting Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and Tenlegs.

Year: 2012

The Guantanamo Public Memory Project is an online public archive and travelling exhibition that investigates, collects and presents the history of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base from multiple perspectives through first person stories, maps, photographs, archival documents, images and daily news feeds. It is a collaboration with Liz Sevcenko at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, and 10 other University partners across the country working with their students and communities to create the exhibit, teach courses on GTMO, host public dialogues on how GTMO impacts on their community, and engage in national debate through the Project blog. The website developed by Picture Projects with the Tronvig Group. The multi-site exhibition for this project was also developed in the Picture Projects studio. Support for the Project has come from National Dialogue and Traveling exhibit partners, the Libra Foundation, the New York Council on the Humanities, and the Open Society Foundations.

Year: 2001

Sonic Memorial is an online soundscape and public archive that tells the story of the “life and times” of the World Trade Center and the events of September 11th from hundreds of perspectives. It was created following the events of September 11, 2001, not only as a place to grieve, but a place where people could participate in the preservation of history. More than 50 independent radio and new media producers, artists, historians, and people from around the world contributed to the over 1,000 personal and archival recordings gathered. Born in the Picture Projects studio and developed in collaboration with the Kitchen Sisters and dotsperinch, SonicMemorial.org is the first online project to win a Peabody Award. Additionally, the project received the Online News Association Award for Creative Use of the Medium, the SXSW Web Award in Audio/Radio, and the Gracie Allen Award for Women in Television and Radio. Major funding for the Sonic Memorial Project was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the California Council for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Ford Foundation, The Kitchen Sisters Productions/Sonic Memorial Fund, the Third Wave Foundation, Minnesota Public Radio, Creative Capital, and listener contributions to the Sonic Memorial Fund. Project travel is provided by a generous donation from Jet Blue.

Year: 2001

Ongoing since 2001, 360degrees - Perspectives on the US Criminal Justice System was the first participatory investigation into the U.S. Criminal Justice System and the impact of the growing prison population on families and communities. We set out to create a space where people with diverse stories can come together to share their experiences and opinions and engage in a productive dialogue. Following the launch of the site, an educational guide and Social Action Network was developed for the use of schools and communities nationwide. We also partnered with radio producers and journalists across the country as new stories were added to the site. Funding for 360degrees was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Creative Capital, the National Endowment for the Arts. The New York Community Trust, New York Council for the Humanities, and New York State Council on the Arts. For this project, Picture Projects received many awards and accolades, including the Webby Net.art Award, Online News Association Award for Creative Use of the Medium, the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association, the Online Journalism Award from the National Press Club, the Batten Award for Innovation from Pew Center for Civic Journalism, the People’s Choice Award from Macromedia, and an Honorable Mention from Ars Electronica.