Brill Family Foundation Expands AI Art Endeavors into Collaborative Artist Accelerator

What happens when artists stop competing and start working with AI.

Published on Feb. 14, 2026

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The Brill Family Foundation has launched the AI Artists Alliance, a collaborative accelerator program focused on harnessing the power of AI for the greater good of humanity's future. The program brings together a diverse group of artists to explore the relationship between humanity and technology, with a focus on data visualization and crowdsourcing. The foundation's goal is to showcase how AI can be used to elevate and empower artists, rather than replace them.

Why it matters

The recent debate over the introduction of AI has raised both fear and fascination, especially as it expands into the creative realm of art. The Brill Family Foundation's AI Artists Alliance aims to address these concerns by fostering collaboration and experimentation between artists and AI, with the goal of demonstrating how the technology can be used to enhance and support human creativity.

The details

The AI Artists Alliance is not a traditional artist residency, but rather an accelerator program focused on collaborative efforts rather than individual final products. The current cohort of artists, which includes Ann Cutting, David Mew, and Neal Von Flue, were selected not only for their artistic talents, but also for their ability to collaborate and work well together. The program includes monthly Zoom meetings, as well as in-person gatherings, where the artists share updates and work towards a unified vision or 'theme' for their collective work.

  • The first in-person meeting was held in Santa Barbara in December 2026.
  • The artists, curator, and foundation representatives plan to meet again in person at the end of a six-month period.
  • The foundation hopes for the AI Artists Alliance project to continue for 18 months to a couple of years.

The players

Brill Family Foundation

A foundation that is focused on harnessing the power of AI for the greater good of humanity's future, and has launched the AI Artists Alliance to explore the relationship between humanity and technology.

Oriana Sanders

The Executive Director of the Brill Family Foundation, who shared the foundation's vision for the AI Artists Alliance and emphasized the importance of collaboration over individual final products.

Ann Cutting

One of the artists selected for the current cohort of the AI Artists Alliance, known for her work in data visualization and crowdsourcing.

David Mew

One of the artists selected for the current cohort of the AI Artists Alliance, known for his work in data visualization and crowdsourcing.

Neal Von Flue

One of the artists selected for the current cohort of the AI Artists Alliance, known for his work in data visualization and crowdsourcing.

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What they’re saying

“We just felt like, why stop there? We've got this momentum going, there's clearly an interest in art and technology, especially AI, and so, we wanted to see if there was a way that we could use this momentum and the outreach and artists to see if we could continue the work.”

— Oriana Sanders, Executive Director, Brill Family Foundation (independent.com)

“There's so many more kinds of AI than just generative, like Mid Journey or ChatGPT… There are so many more layers of it. And there are so many different kinds of AI art, like data visualization. They all still require human vision, and there's levels of artistic ability that are still required to create good AI… For us, it's really important to focus on the humans that are creating the art.”

— Oriana Sanders, Executive Director, Brill Family Foundation (independent.com)

“At a certain point, people have to stop just living in fear and burying their heads in the sand, and figure out how we can steward this technology so that it doesn't just replace artists and threaten them.”

— Oriana Sanders, Executive Director, Brill Family Foundation (independent.com)

What’s next

The AI Artists Alliance plans to meet again in person at the end of a six-month period, and the Brill Family Foundation hopes for the project to continue for 18 months to a couple of years.

The takeaway

The Brill Family Foundation's AI Artists Alliance is a forward-thinking initiative that aims to harness the power of AI to enhance and support human creativity, rather than replace it. By fostering collaboration and experimentation between artists and technology, the program seeks to reframe the conversation around AI and art, and demonstrate how the two can work together to benefit the creative community and society as a whole.