Digital Graffiti + Education

The 17th Annual Digital Graffiti Festival at Alys Beach, underwritten by The Alys Foundation, will introduce new educational initiatives, programming and partnerships to the event lineup.

In addition to the festival’s evening exhibitions and celebrations, Alys Beach will host panel discussions and student outreach as part of this expanded education effort from Digital Graffiti + Education (DG + E). Starting May 16, Alys Beach homeowners and members of the public will be invited into the processes behind the Digital Graffiti experience.

This DG + E programming includes panels moderated by Kevin Boyle. It features discussions with festival curator John Colette, technical specialist Geoffrey Platt, DG artists, digital arts instructors and Marieanne Khoury-Vogt, Alys Beach town architect, providing the audience with more opportunities to learn about the installations, processes, technology, production and architecture brought together to create the Digital Graffiti experience.

These DG + E panels are offered free of charge, and ticketed reservations are required. Complimentary panel tickets can now be secured via BigTickets, where festival event tickets are also available for purchase.

Photo courtesy of Alys Beach

Thursday, May 16, 4–6 p.m.

RSVP required

Art + Architecture Panel, Central Park

This panel discussion, moderated by Kevin Boyle, will feature Alys Beach town architect Marieanne Khoury-Vogt, digital graffiti curator John Colette, 2024 Digital Graffiti Finalist Peter Clark, and residency artist Jeremy Oury.

Friday, May 17, 10 a.m. to noon

RSVP required

Digital Graffiti 101 Panel, Central Park

This panel discussion, moderated by Kevin Boyle, will feature Digital Graffiti curator John Colette, University of Missouri professor and artist Katina Bitsicas, Cypress College professor Kati Angelov and residency artist Diana Reichenbach.

Friday, May 17, 2–4 p.m.

RSVP required

Art + Technology Panel, Central Park

This panel discussion will feature technologist Geoffrey Platt and 2024 Digital Graffiti Finalists, moderated by Kevin Boyle.

Saturday, May 18, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m

RSVP required

Digital Graffiti Panel, Central Park

This panel discussion will feature Alys Beach town architect Marieanne Khoury-Vogt, Digital Graffiti curator John Collete, technologist Geoffrey Platt and DG judge and LUMA Festival founder Joshua Bernard, moderated by Kevin Boyle.

Digital Graffiti will partner with area schools, university programs and local nonprofits to provide a platform and collaborative “laboratory” space for emerging artists and to further the educational reach of the festival experience. In addition to the longtime involvement of Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and the return of the University of Missouri (Mizzou), the 2024 Digital Graffiti Festival welcomes art and technology programs from Cypress College (Cypress, CA), Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA) and local charter schools Seaside Neighborhood School and Seacoast Collegiate High School. These students and their instructors will have the opportunity to experience the real-life application in the festival scenario, seeing their artworks incorporated into the show, engaging with professional artists practicing in the arts and technology fields and workshopping, incubating and collaborating ideas and applications.

Photo courtesy of Alys Beach

This year, Digital Graffiti will also introduce DGTV, which will chronicle festival production, including behind-the-scenes insights into the curation process, the creative and technical production, and will include interviews with the show’s finalists, residency and participating artists, technicians, audience, students, teachers, curator, events production, architects and other contributors for a compelling look into the Digital Graffiti experience from start to finish. DGTV interviews will be conducted by Kevin Boyle, whose involvement in the festival started in its early years, and filming will take place throughout this year’s festival events.

This year, Digital Graffiti is also partnering with The Paper Bear Film Project. This nonprofit feature film aims to generate awareness and a greater appreciation for the tremendous biodiversity of the Northwest Florida region. The soon-to-release film features a thoughtful blend of animation and live-action, and an installation representing the animation process will be shown as part of the 2024 Digital Graffiti Festival, mapped to the architectural and landscape features of Raw & Juicy. Additionally, to further engage younger audiences, DG X The Paper Bear will hold a scavenger hunt during the Saturday evening festival event to introduce the animated characters from the film hidden throughout the festival path, in addition to “Easter eggs” found within artworks. Each scavenger hunt item will be marked with a stamp in the corresponding passport, and a completed passport will be awarded a special edition Digital Graffiti X The Paper Bear t-shirt. Children who wish to participate in the scavenger hunt can pick up their passports at the entry/box office tent.

Finally, the Digital Graffiti app provides a resource for artist information, a festival map and information. This year, it will expand to include a glossary of terms to provide festival goers with access to the lexicon of the art and technology. This app is a free download for Apple and Android users and is a valuable resource for those who wish to learn more about the art and artists, and better navigate the Digital Graffiti experience.

Ultimately, Digital Graffiti aims to entertain, engage and educate its audience, artists and production participants with a fully immersive festival experience. By adding these new initiatives to the existing tools designed to more deeply engage festival goers, DG aims to make the aspects of art, architecture and technology that come together to create the overall experience more accessible, relatable and, therefore, more culturally impactful.

To learn more about the Digital Graffiti Festival’s full roster of events and participating talent, please visit the website, https://digitalgraffiti.com/ and social media channels https://www.instagram.com/dgalysbeach/ https://www.facebook.com/DigitalGraffitiFestival/.

Photo courtesy of Alys Beachart

ABOUT THE ALYS FOUNDATION:

The Alys Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established to support the long-term community values of the town. Funds can be used to finance community, environmental, cultural and educational programs at Alys Beach and help other nonprofit organizations in the greater community. The Foundation continues to give back to the community by hosting Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach, the 30A Wine Festival and Alys Beach Crafted.

ABOUT ALYS BEACH:

Nestled among the pristine white sands and sparkling turquoise waters of Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast sits Alys Beach, a fully bespoke, luxury lifestyle and vacation experience, a seaside destination where life is refreshed. Known for its striking white architecture, Alys Beach is a New Urbanist community built for relationships, connection and building memories around the town’s most sought-after amenity, the pristine Gulf beaches. With its 158 acres within a short walk of the beach and designed for engaging and comfortable access to the town center’s shops and restaurants, Alys Beach is truly an unparalleled experience. Alys Beach has long attracted homeowners and vacation guests with an eye for distinctive design and detail, and the town’s signature events serve to reinforce a sense of transportation to a place of luxury found within the balance of beauty, simplicity and grace to a place where life is not just lived, it is defined. Alys Beach town architects Marieanne Khoury-Vogt and Erik Vogt of Khoury Vogt Architects have been awarded the prestigious 2023 Arthur Ross Award for Excellence in the Classical Tradition for Architecture by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA). For more information, please visit alysbeach.com.