WNET Announces the Launch of ALL ARTS Channel

WNET, parent company of New York's PBS stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, is pleased to announce the launch of ALL ARTS - an unprecedented streaming platform and broadcast channel that offers access to all forms of creative expression from New York and around the world. Presenting exceptional cultural content, ALL ARTS is a place for creators to learn from one another and for artists from all disciplines to reach audiences across the tri-state area. Select programming is now available on the Web, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The full network, including the TV channel and streaming apps on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV, will launch in January 28, 2019.

WNET has appointed Jörn Weisbrodt as ALL ARTS Artistic Director to help curate special events, develop an artist-in-residence initiative and conceptualize programming ideas, in collaboration with Executives in Charge Neal Shapiro, President and CEO of WNET, and Diane Masciale,WLIW21 Vice President and General Manager; and Joe Harrell, Senior Director of ALL ARTS.

Weisbrodt has in-depth experience in directing and advising on a range of cultural projects in the U.S. and internationally. He previously served as the Artistic Director of Toronto's Luminato Festival (2012-2016), as the Director of The Watermill Center in New York (2009-2011) and as the Artistic Production Director of the Berlin State Opera (2002-2007).

Weisbrodt will amplify WNET's mission to raise the visibility of its arts programming - an initiative that WNET President and CEO Neal Shapiro has been building since he joined the company in 2007.

Shapiro notes: "For more than 50 years, WNET has broadcast programs across a wide range of performing and visual arts, delivering cultural experiences that have a profound impact. ALL ARTS is the next evolution of this commitment, offering viewers a consolidated place to engage with arts and culture. I am thrilled to have Jörn working with us to take our vision into the future. His experience in producing innovative programs and cultivating artists will be invaluable to ALL ARTS."

Jörn Weisbrodt, Artistic Director of ALL ARTS, notes: "ALL ARTS will be like a cultural institution without walls, without closing times, without tickets and without barriers. We have the chance to create cultural programming that is inherently inclusive and accessible, connecting audiences and artists on a more intimate and authentic level. I am so excited to be joining WNET on this ambitious project and look forward to engaging with viewers and artists on-air, online and in person."

The ALL ARTS Editorial Advisory Board is made up of thought leaders in the art and culture world who will help make ALL ARTS a true cultural force for New York and national audiences. The Editorial Advisory Board includes Anne Pasternak (Brooklyn Museum), Wendy Whelan (former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer), Joe Polisi (former President of the Juilliard School), Cliff Chenfeld (Razor & Tie and Kidz Bop), Erika Elliott (City Parks Foundation), Adrian Ellis (AEA Consulting), JiaJia Fei (The Jewish Museum), Karen Brooks Hopkins (Onassis Foundation and former President Emerita of Brooklyn Academy of Music), Kemi Ilesanmi (The Laundromat Project), James King (Harlem Stage), Jimmy Moffat (Art + Commerce and Red Hook Labs), Scott Schwartz (Bay Street Theater), Jeffrey Seller (Adventureland, LLC.) and Limor Tomer (Metropolitan Museum of Art).

ALL ARTS harnesses the power of public media to link artists and institutions to today's viewers. As a free, on-demand service, ALL ARTS reduces barriers to experiencing the arts and builds new audiences for cultural organizations. The initiative also ushers in a new era for public media that combines the model of free, accessible programming with the pervasive use of streaming and digital platforms. In reaching both the current and next generation of WNET viewers, ALL ARTS provides a new avenue to appreciate and support artistic creation and artist communities.

The platform's programming will illuminate the emerging to the established, the hybrid to the pure in dance, film, stories, music, theater, visual art, design and all other forms of creative expression. ALL ARTS will feature a mix of original programs newly produced by WLIW21, acquired programs from around the globe, archival programs mined from WNET's 50-year history of arts broadcasting reimagined for today's audiences, and PBS and local public media-affiliated programming.

ALL ARTS is partnering with institutions and artists across the greater New York area to produce and promote content, bringing the best of the region's cultural offerings to tri-state and national audiences.

Leadership support for ALL ARTS is generously provided by Jody and John Arnhold, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim, III, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Rosalind P. Walter, and The Agnes Varis Trust. Additional support has also been provided by the Estate of Webster W. Schott.

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