Latest news for the Nebraskans for the Arts
Latest news for the Nebraskans for the Arts
Love the Arts in Nebraska? Join Nebraskans for the Arts! Nebraskans for the Arts relies on you, our supporters, to do the advocacy we do and keep the arts and creativity growing in Nebraska. Membership starts at only $25. DONATE NOW and help us share the importance of arts for better schools and better communities.
Impact of the Arts in Nebraska 
Over the past month there has been a number of legislative forums discussing issues important to enhancing Nebraska's economy and its communities.
One theme emerging is the recognition that many Nebraska communities are losing their manufacturing industries and other industries must take their place if towns and regions are to survive.
Many communities across the country are wrestling with this same issue. Groups and initiatives are emerging as local and state leaders look at creative industries as an economic development possibility.
“Creative Industries” is defined as organizations that lie at the crossroads of arts, culture, business and technology whose work generates new knowledge, products, performances and information. Creative industries include arts-centric businesses that range from nonprofit museums, symphonies, and theaters to for-profit film, architecture, and advertising companies.

Nebraska is home to 3,558 arts-related businesses that employ 14,351 people. The following link provides a map and listing of businesses and employees in our state’s creative industries. This sector has grown over 27% since 2008.

In addition to the direct economic impact, numerous studies report the importance of the arts for recruiting and retaining employees. Employees want to live and work in a vibrant community. As Forbes’ latest “Best States for Business” study – where Nebraska ranked #3 – reports, “…Nebraska and its communities consistently score well in national comparisons for quality of life.” The arts are integral to this, helping to spur community renewal, attracting new businesses, and drawing tourism dollars.

When talking or corresponding with an elected official, it is important to raise these points and to have specific information that is relevant to the areas he/she represents. We have created a page on our website to collect information on the Creative Industries movement and initiatives from around the country to give you the information you need to advocate for the arts as an economic tool to enhance your community.
Online Publication on Conteporary Visual Art in Nebraska 
Art Files of the Flatlanders is an online publication offering content on Nebraska's contemporary visual arts. Featuring contributions by artists, writers, educators, and curators working in Nebraska, Art Files of the Flatlanders is a critical dialogue for Nebraska's contemporary visual arts by providing analysis of events and exhibitions. 
Call for Proposals: Kimmel Fdn. Artist Residencies
The Lincoln Arts Council is seeking applications for awards to one emerging artist and one emerging writer working in Lincoln. The Lincoln Mayor's Kimmel Foundation Award includes a two-week residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City and a $1,000 stipend. Application materials and guidelines are available at artscene.org; deadline is Marth 10, 2016. 

Arts Advocacy Breakfast
@ the State Capitol
February 4, 2016
Check Out Our Members
Bemis Center for Contemporary Art
The
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts was created by artists, for artists. Founded in 1981, the Bemis Center provides residency opportunities to artists from around the world, so that they may develop new ideas, expand their practice and engage the community. Nearly 700 artists-in-residence have called the Bemis Center home, participating in global conversations at the forefront of contemporary culture. In addition to live/work studios, the Bemis Center has exhibition spaces, an urban garden and the Okada Center for Sculpture and Ceramics. Its acclaimed Bemis Benefit Art Auction, featuring silent and live auctions of over 250 works of art from top artists, will be on November 21st. bemiscenter.org
Fremont Area Art Association/Gallery 92 West
The Fremont Area Art Association promotes the appreciation and development of visual art in and around the Fremont area. It has been an active participant in the cultural life of the community and area since 1960. Membership is composed of art supporters and appreciators as well as active artists ranging from successful professionals to “Sunday painters”. The art association is supported by membership, voluntary contributions, and grants from the Nebraska Arts Council and Fremont area foundations. Its exhibitions, events, classes and workshops are held at Gallery 92 West in downtown Fremont.
92west.org
Hastings Community Theatre
For over 56 years, the Hastings Community Theatre has provided opportunities for south central Nebraska communities to participate in the study, practice and production of all phases of the theatrical arts. The theatre has flourished 56 years on a completely volunteer basis. The HCT Kids program provides summer theatre experiences for grade school through high school students. In addition, the theatre is now in its second year of hosting a show choir competition for regional high school students. Over the years HCT has collaborated with other local entities, like the Hastings Symphony Orchestra, to bring live theatre entertainment to our area. Catch their latest dinner theatre production “Sylvia” through Nov. 22nd. hctheatre.org
There is still time to sign up and be a part of Poetry Out Loud. Every high school in Nebraska is welcome. 

  • Fulfills man Nebraska state standards in language arts and theatre
  • Teacher resources and support; including visiting poets to assist with classroom activities.
Spotlight on Student Achievement in the Arts
Each month, Nebraskans for the Arts honors a Nebraska student who has made outstanding achievements in the visual or performing arts.
Serenity Stokes may have grown up under difficult circumstances, but that certainly hasn't affected her commitment to her future. As a high school senior, she has already become one of the best young poets in Nebraska. Her achievements in poetry and supporting the growth of slam poetry led the Nebraskans for Arts to select Serenity their November Student Spotlight winner.

Serenity, a senior at Lincoln North Star High School, has been a force to be reckoned with in Slam Poetry, a competition at which poets read or recite their original work. She won the Spirit of the Slam Award at the 2015 Louder Than a Bomb: Great Plains festival and was part of the Lincoln North Star’s State Championship Team in Slam Poetry. In 2013, she received first place in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Poetry Slam, where she competed against other high school writers and college writers. 

“Few student writers I have worked with in nearly fifteen years of teaching are as aware and connected to sound and image as Serenity so beautifully is,” said her nominator, Stacey Waite, Lincoln North Star Poetry Slam Team Coach and Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “Serenity is a risk-taking writer, one who walks the borders of the lines between sentimentality and power, between truth and deception, between the beautiful and the sublime. She is a builder of images and is able to move her reader through a variety of narratives while making the transitions feel seemingly effortless.” 

In addition to her success on the stage and as one of the best poets of her age in the state, Serenity takes her passion for slam poetry to the youth community. She visits middle schools and elementary schools to introduce slam poetry to younger kids. In team meetings where poets share their work with and ideas that help her teammates improve. 

For Serenity, participating in slam poetry has helped her with her leadership, diligence and ability to make connections between what she learns in a classroom and what she observes out in the world. "It makes everything a new opportunity, a new friend, a new way to help; if I show them a part of me, they show a part of themselves back" 

Louder Than a Bomb: Great Plains is a youth poetry festival conducted by the Nebraska Writers Collective and now one of the biggest events of its kind. The festival consists of a series of workshops conducted by accomplished poets who serve as teaching artists and coaches to assist students in creating and perfecting original poetry compositions and practicing performing individual and group pieces. The event culminates in a friendly tournament, with pieces performed in front of live audiences. For more details, check the official website at LTABGreatPlains.com
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