CalArts and the CHANEL Culture Fund announce the CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology

Visionary initiative positions artists at the forefront of shaping the evolving technologies that define our world

Transformative five-year gift offers a model for partner-led corporate cultural philanthropy, following CHANEL’s successful Art Partners initiatives at international institutions

[April 24, 2025 – Valencia, Calif.] California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and the CHANEL Culture Fund together announce the CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology at CalArts, a visionary initiative that positions artists at the forefront of shaping the evolving technologies that define our world. The Center will provide students, faculty, and visiting fellows across the creative disciplines access to leading-edge equipment and software, allowing artists to explore and use new technologies as tools for their work. Creating opportunities for collaboration and driving innovation across disciplines, the initiative creates the conditions for artists to play an active role in developing the use and application of these emergent technologies.

The Center builds on CalArts’ legacy as a cross-disciplinary school of the arts, where experimentation in visual arts, music, film, performing arts, and dance has been nurtured since the institution’s founding. In this unprecedented initiative, artists will be empowered to use technology to shape creativity across disciplines—and, ultimately, to envision a better world.

Funded by a five-year, transformative gift from the CHANEL Culture Fund, the CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology establishes CalArts as the hub of a new ecosystem of arts and technology. The CHANEL Center will foster research, experimentation, mentorship, and the creation of new knowledge by connecting students, faculty, artists, and technologists—the thinkers and creators whose expertise and vision will define the future—with new technology and its applications. It will also activate a network of institutions throughout Southern California and beyond, linking museums, universities, and technology companies to share resources and knowledge.

The CHANEL Center at CalArts will also serve as a hub for the exchange of knowledge among artists and experts from CHANEL Culture Fund’s signature programs—including more than 50 initiatives and partnerships established since 2020 that support cultural innovators in advancing new ideas. Visiting fellows and artists will be drawn both from CalArts’ sphere and from the agile network of visionary creators, thinkers, and multidisciplinary artists whom CHANEL has supported over the past five years—a network that includes such luminaries as Cao Fei, Arthur Jafa, William Kentridge, and Jacolby Satterwhite. The CHANEL Center will also host an annual forum addressing artists’ engagement with emerging technologies, ensuring that knowledge gained is knowledge shared.

The Center’s funding provides foundational resources for equipment; visiting experts, artists, and technologists-in-residence; graduate fellowships; and faculty and staff with specific expertise in future-focused research and creation. With the foundation of the CHANEL Center, CalArts empowers its students, faculty, and visiting artists to shape the future through transformative technology and new modes of thinking.

The first initiative of its kind at an independent arts school, the CHANEL Center consists of two areas of focus: one concentrating on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, and the other on Digital Imaging. The project cultivates a multidisciplinary ecosystem—encompassing visual art, music, performance, and still, moving, projected, and immersive imagery—connecting CalArts and a global network of artists and technologists, other colleges and universities, arts institutions, and industry partners from technology, the arts, and beyond.

CalArts President Ravi S. Rajan said, “The CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology at CalArts makes real an endeavor that’s long been in our dreams. At CalArts, we recognize that throughout history and across cultures, it’s the artists who consistently lead us toward a more imaginative, compelling, and just future. I’m grateful to the CHANEL Culture Fund for embracing our shared vision of centering artists at the forefront of shaping the technologies that will inform our collective lives and society. It’s in CalArts’ DNA to create game-changing initiatives—since its founding by Walt and Roy Disney, CalArts’ evolution has been inseparable from that of the industries it influences. Through the CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology, CalArts will continue this legacy by helping define the future of technology in the arts.”

Yana Peel, Chanel’s Global Head of Arts and Culture, said, “Artists have always shown us what’s next through the constant evolution of new ideas. In the ever-changing age of AI, the CHANEL Center for Artists & Technology will enable and encourage creatives across disciplines to harness that innovation—to take human imagination further than ever before. We are honored to work with CalArts to create opportunities for today’s fearless young artists, accelerating ideas to advance culture.”

Learn more about the CHANEL Center for Artists and Technology at CalArts.

California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) has set the pace for educating professional artists since 1970. Offering rigorous undergraduate and graduate degree programs through six schools—Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music, and Theater—CalArts champions creative excellence, critical reflection, and the development of new forms and expressions. As successive generations of faculty and alumni have helped shape the landscape of contemporary arts, the Institute first envisioned by Walt Disney encompasses a vibrant, eclectic community with global reach, inviting experimentation, independent inquiry, and active collaboration and exchange among artists, artistic disciplines, and cultural traditions.

Extending a century of commitment to the arts, the CHANEL Culture Fund fosters a vibrant network of creators and innovators to advance the ideas that shape culture worldwide.

Signature programmes include CHANEL’s Art Partners, institutions whose leaders are supported in the development of ground-breaking, multi-year initiatives that bring innovation to the cultural landscape. The CHANEL Next Prize celebrates artists and accelerates their future successes through access to resources and mentorship. The Window, a public art program in London, features artists working with emerging technology to develop original screen-based work. And the podcast CHANEL Connects amplifies the voices of thought-leaders across disciplines, generations, and geographies—tackling the defining issues of our time.

From emerging curators at the MCA Chicago to leading ecologists at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, from game-changing artists at the Venice Biennale to the brightest directors at the British Film Institute, the CHANEL Culture Fund champions creative audacity for a better future.

Media contacts
Sarah Goulet, CHANEL Culture Fund: sarah@sarahgoulet.com | +1 303-918-0393
Karolyn Pearson, CalArts: karolyn@rwjonesagency.com | +1 303-931-6381

Image
Manasa Hunsur Manjunath (MFA2 Art and Technology), Cerebral Symphony, 2024 
Photo by Presley Yang, courtesy of CalArts