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Programming | |
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Format | Pirate radio station |
History | |
First air date | 2004 |
Neighborhood Public Radio (NPR) was an independent arts collective and roving pirate radio station. [1] [2] [3] Between 2004 and 2011, it broadcast intermittently from various locations in the United States and in Europe, as a very low-power, unlicensed FM station. [1] [4] [5]
Its motto was, "If it's in the neighborhood and it makes noise...we hope to put it on the air." [5]
Neighborhood Public Radio was founded by Lee Montgomery, Michael Trigilio, and Jon Brumit in 2004. [1] [3] Lee Montgomery was a professor at Diablo Valley College who had experience with public radio as a DJ at KALX, broadcasting from the University of California at Berkeley, and had experimented with radio transmitters. [1] [4] He invited artist Jon Brumit to bring ideas on working with sound and public interaction. [1] Multimedia artist Trigilio was a colleague of Montgomery's at Diablo Valley College, and had built his own radio transmitter previously. [1]
Although Neighborhood Public Radio used a modified version of the National Public Radio logo and introduced its own series called "American Life" which evoked This American Life – the founders insisted that parody was not the main objective of the project. [1]
Nevertheless, Neighborhood Public Radio often critiqued the state of public (and commercial) radio. [1] For example, Montgomery once edited together a recording of every time NPR thanked one of its sponsors within a 24-hour period. [1] The segment was 12 minutes long and the top sponsor was identified as Burger King. [1]
Its first broadcast in 2004 was a five-day run at 21 Grant gallery in Oakland, California. [1] [2] Since then, it took to the airwaves in a series of locations across the United States, including San Francisco; San Jose, California; Chicago; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and New York. [2] [6] It also broadcast from Serbia and Hamburg, Germany. [1]
NPR had a long-standing partnership with the Southern Exposure gallery in San Francisco's Mission District. [1] The project, which relied on interactions with passers-by in the neighborhood, often occupied the storefront of Artists' Television Access on the corner of 21st and Valencia Street. [1]
Around 2007, Neighborhood Public Radio received $35,000 grant from the Creative Work Fund to finance its Radio Cartography project. [2]
In 2008, it broadcast in Manhattan on 91.9 FM, with "hyperlocal" programs focusing on music, art, and public affairs. [2] The FM signal could reach only 4,600 people within a three-square-block radius. [2] It was featured as part of that year's Whitney Biennial. [4]
In 2010, it was part of an exhibition at the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. [3]
Programs on Neighborhood Public Radio were typically 30 to 60 minutes long. [2] Content ranged in quality. [4] Topics included local residents exchanging recipes and discussing their worst-ever neighbors. [4] The format of the segments varied – from live band performances to man-on-the-street interviews, and roundtables of artists discussing their work. [1]
Along with many self-initiated projects, NPR collaborated on works with many non-profit arts spaces, museums, festivals, and fellow artist collaboratives such as:
![]() | |
Programming | |
---|---|
Format | Pirate radio station |
History | |
First air date | 2004 |
Neighborhood Public Radio (NPR) was an independent arts collective and roving pirate radio station. [1] [2] [3] Between 2004 and 2011, it broadcast intermittently from various locations in the United States and in Europe, as a very low-power, unlicensed FM station. [1] [4] [5]
Its motto was, "If it's in the neighborhood and it makes noise...we hope to put it on the air." [5]
Neighborhood Public Radio was founded by Lee Montgomery, Michael Trigilio, and Jon Brumit in 2004. [1] [3] Lee Montgomery was a professor at Diablo Valley College who had experience with public radio as a DJ at KALX, broadcasting from the University of California at Berkeley, and had experimented with radio transmitters. [1] [4] He invited artist Jon Brumit to bring ideas on working with sound and public interaction. [1] Multimedia artist Trigilio was a colleague of Montgomery's at Diablo Valley College, and had built his own radio transmitter previously. [1]
Although Neighborhood Public Radio used a modified version of the National Public Radio logo and introduced its own series called "American Life" which evoked This American Life – the founders insisted that parody was not the main objective of the project. [1]
Nevertheless, Neighborhood Public Radio often critiqued the state of public (and commercial) radio. [1] For example, Montgomery once edited together a recording of every time NPR thanked one of its sponsors within a 24-hour period. [1] The segment was 12 minutes long and the top sponsor was identified as Burger King. [1]
Its first broadcast in 2004 was a five-day run at 21 Grant gallery in Oakland, California. [1] [2] Since then, it took to the airwaves in a series of locations across the United States, including San Francisco; San Jose, California; Chicago; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and New York. [2] [6] It also broadcast from Serbia and Hamburg, Germany. [1]
NPR had a long-standing partnership with the Southern Exposure gallery in San Francisco's Mission District. [1] The project, which relied on interactions with passers-by in the neighborhood, often occupied the storefront of Artists' Television Access on the corner of 21st and Valencia Street. [1]
Around 2007, Neighborhood Public Radio received $35,000 grant from the Creative Work Fund to finance its Radio Cartography project. [2]
In 2008, it broadcast in Manhattan on 91.9 FM, with "hyperlocal" programs focusing on music, art, and public affairs. [2] The FM signal could reach only 4,600 people within a three-square-block radius. [2] It was featured as part of that year's Whitney Biennial. [4]
In 2010, it was part of an exhibition at the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. [3]
Programs on Neighborhood Public Radio were typically 30 to 60 minutes long. [2] Content ranged in quality. [4] Topics included local residents exchanging recipes and discussing their worst-ever neighbors. [4] The format of the segments varied – from live band performances to man-on-the-street interviews, and roundtables of artists discussing their work. [1]
Along with many self-initiated projects, NPR collaborated on works with many non-profit arts spaces, museums, festivals, and fellow artist collaboratives such as: