"Once you’ve curated new media art you’re unlikely to curate anything else the same way again."

Building on research into curating new media art since 1993 at the University of Sunderland, CRUMB was founded by Beryl Graham and Sarah Cook in 2000 within the School of Arts, Design, Media and Culture, with a Small Grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Board. CRUMB's activities cover a range of practices, but are predominantly based around research, networking, and professional development for curators of new media art.

CRUMB members run a lively discussion list on curating new media art with over 1000 international subscribers, publish interviews with curators, and lecture and publish widely, contributing to academic books as well as artists' exhibition catalogues. Articles written by CRUMB team members on the subject of curating new media art are to be found in books published by Routledge, Arts Council of England, University of California Press and The Banff Centre Press and in periodicals such as Leonardo, Art Monthly and Mute Magazine. Cook and Graham's book Rethinking Curating: Art After New Media was published by MIT Press in 2010 and is the leading text in the field.

CRUMB researchers also curate exhibitions as well as organising workshops, masterclasses and conferences for the professional development of curators and the discussion of new media art curating. These include organising the first ever meeting of new media curators in the UK as part of BALTIC's pre-opening programme - a seminar on Curating New Media held in May 2001.

Further dedicated research grants from AHRC and others have allowed CRUMB to expand its team over the years. These researchers have included designer and artist Trudy Lane, web-programmer Spencer Roberts, post-doctoral researchers Dr. Verina Gfader (2007-2010), Dr. Axel Lapp (2009), Dr. Nora O'Murchu (2013), Dr. Isabella Streffen (2013), and doctoral researchers who combine academic, practical and professional expertise including Ele Carpenter (completed 2008), Dominic Smith and Adinda van 't Klooster (both completed 2012), Victoria Bradbury, Roddy Hunter, Marialaura Ghidini and Suzy O'Hara (all current). Full bios for all are below.

Since 2001, the CRUMB team have successfully realised projects through research partnerships with: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, UK (2004-2006); The Banff Centre - the Walter Phillips Gallery and the Banff New Media Institute, Canada (2004-2007); The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2002); Caitlin Jones, Archivist and Curator, who was our Arts Council England funded visiting 'Inspiring Internationalist (2008); Eyebeam (New York) and The Institute for Cultural Research, Lancaster University (Dr. Charlie Gere) (both 2007-2010). We continue to work closely with organisations who produce, support and exhibit new media art including AV Festival (Northeast UK), Transitio Festival (Mexico City), AND Festival (Northwest UK), The Pixel Palace (Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle) and others.