Fashion, Future, Forward: CalArts and Chanel unveil AI-focused art and tech center

The partnership between CalArts and Chanel represents a significant investment in the intersection of art and technology, establishing a dedicated center focused on AI and digital imaging. This collaboration signals growing recognition that artists play a crucial role in shaping technological development, particularly in the AI era where creative input can help guide more thoughtful and imaginative applications of emerging tools.

The big picture: Chanel is funding a new Center for Artists and Technology at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) to begin operations in fall 2025, focusing on AI, machine learning, and digital imaging.

• The Santa Clarita-based center aims to provide students, faculty, and visiting fellows across creative disciplines with access to leading technology for research and experimentation.
• The initiative will connect museums, universities, and technology companies, creating an interdisciplinary hub for artistic technological innovation.

Key details: The Chanel Culture Fund will resource equipment, visiting experts, graduate fellowships, and future-focused research at the center.

• The center plans to host an annual forum addressing artists’ engagement with emerging technologies.
• A search for an executive director is currently underway to lead the initiative.

What they’re saying: CalArts president Ravi S. Rajan emphasized the initiative’s alignment with the institution’s innovative legacy and future vision.

• “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,” stated Rajan.
• Yana Peel, Chanel’s global head of arts and culture, noted: “In the ever-changing age of AI, the Chanel Center for Artists and Technology will enable and encourage creatives across disciplines to harness that innovation — to take human imagination further than ever before.”

Why this matters: This partnership reflects a growing recognition that technological development benefits from artistic perspectives, particularly as AI systems increasingly shape cultural production and consumption.

• The initiative continues CalArts’ tradition of industry influence, which began with its founding by Walt and Roy Disney.
• By prioritizing artistic leadership in technological development, the center could help guide more human-centered approaches to AI implementation.