New Media Nashville is a studio that builds portals—through exhibitions, publications, and participatory gatherings—to the tension between being alive and being optimized. Founded by artist John Holmes, NMN is the public engine behind Material & Immaterial, a long-term curatorial research project exploring what happens to meaning, intimacy, and agency in a world where data replaces experience.

We believe culture doesn’t just reflect the world—it builds it. Our work exists to shift perception, spark imagination, and help people reclaim a sense of connection and authorship in a system that often treats them like data points. We use immersive installations, creative tools, and live gatherings to invite people into deeper, more embodied ways of being—with each other and with technology. Our long-term goal is to turn these one-time events into lasting cultural infrastructure.

This kind of work requires support. It’s easy to overlook the cost of “invisible labor” behind creative and cultural projects—but the truth is: technology isn’t cheap, artists need to be paid, and public events cost money to put on. We keep our gatherings free and accessible to the public, and this only works because people like you choose to support the work directly.

Your donation helps us cover the real costs of building public tools, maintaining a working studio, compensating artists, and producing events that don’t rely on sponsorships from extractive tech companies. You’re not just donating—you’re making this work possible.

Here are some of the real materials we need to grow this vision:

$5 — Tiny sensors and NFC chips for interactive projects

$25 — Snacks and gaff tape for event setups

$50 — Printing costs for our zines, flyers, and marketing materials

$100 — Raspberry Pis and microcontrollers

$250 — Software subscriptions (e.g. Adobe Suite, TouchDesginer, Ableton, etc.)

$500 — Artist honorariums and educational materials

$1,000 — Ability to pay fabricators for larger material installations

$2,000+ — High-performance laptops, projectors, LED walls, depth cameras, motion trackers, EEG sensors, etc

Thank you for supporting New Media Nashville. Every gift—large or small—helps us build a different kind of future. One rooted in connection, care, and creative freedom.

The NMN Studio Wish List

By New Media Nashville

The NMN Studio Wish List