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May 2014    
Issue #77
 

Reserve Now!

 

Get Sm'art - 36th Annual Mayor's Arts Awards

 

2014 Mayor's Arts Awards Come celebrate the arts and recognize the accomplishments of our vibrant arts community. The Lincoln Arts Council and Mayor Beutler invite you to join us on Wednesday, May 28th onstage at the Lied Center for Performing Arts for a delightful evening with our winners.

They have changed the arts landscape of Lincoln, and now it's time to recognize their gifts to the city. Deadline for tickets reservations is May 14, 2014. The evening begins at 5:30 pm with a reception, cash bar and buffet dinner.

Live music by Vincent Learned, GET SM'ART video by director/filmmaker Alexander Jeffrey, Master of Ceremonies, Senator David Landis. The awards ceremony begins at 7:15 pm.

Tickets are $60 and can be purchased by calling 402-434-2787, or you can mail a check and seating requests to the Lincoln Arts Council, 1701 South 17th Street, Suite 1A, Lincoln, NE 68502. You can
download the reservation form on the Mayors Arts Awards page. There you will find options for paying online, or by printing and mailing it in.

More...

Mayor's Arts Awards Sponsors - We Salute You!  

  

 

Mayor's Arts AwardsWhere else do city officials and artists, art educators and philanthropists come together to celebrate and honor creative efforts of all disciplines? I cannot think of any such opportunity other than Lincoln's Mayor's Arts Awards.

 

There is a great release of energy and encouragement when we as a community express our appreciation for those who are passionate about doing art and supporting art. It is a very good thing.

 

In addition to all of this rightness and well-being, the Mayor's Arts Awards also provides a significant portion of the operating budget for the Lincoln Arts Council. For this empowering underwriting, we celebrate and honor our sponsors.

 

We welcome the sponsors who are brand new to this event, like Black Hills Energy, Lincoln Journal Star, Speedway Properties and Union Agency. We are pleased to work with Legacy Retirement Communities to develop a brand new award to honor our seniors. We are so grateful for our returning sponsors, faithful and esteemed: A to Z Printing; Wayne Boles; Cline, Williams, Wright, Johnson and Oldfather LLP; Cornhusker Bank; Farmers Mutual Insurance Company of Nebraska; Jerry and Annette Hall; Liberty First Credit Union; Lincoln Community Foundation; Lincoln Industries; Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital; Northrup Designs; Ann Rawley; Joe and Judith Ruffo; RUNZA� Restaurants; St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center; Talent Plus, Inc. and Steve Wake.

 

For a number of years, special recognition has been incorporated into the Mayor's Arts Awards in conjunction with Clark Enersen Partners to present the Enersen Urban Design Awards and with the Richard P. Kimmel and Laurine Kimmel Charitable Foundation to award two Kimmel Foundation Emerging Artists Awards, which include a residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. And we are grateful to do our part to keep the giving alive through endowed sponsorships from Dr. Richard Hay and the Gladys Lux Foundation.

 

Please join in thanking our generous sponsors!


Woods Charitable Fund approved grants totaling $434,500 during its first grant cycle of 2014.  Click here to visit WCF's website and see the full list of grant recipients!

The Experience of Community Supported Art - What's it Worth?    

 

 


As shoppers, we are conditioned to consider things like "value" and "price," but rarely are we encouraged to slow down and consider the real worth of a thing.
  • What is it worth to receive ten original, locally-produced pieces of artwork? 
  • What is it worth to invest in the careers of entrepreneurial artists here in our community?
  • What is it worth to engage high school students in the real-world experience of creating for a commission? 
  • What is it worth to interact with the artists and fellow art share-holders beyond a mere business transaction?

You are part of all of this - the giving and the receiving -- with your purchase of a CSArt share.

 

More...

 

CSArt Shares Available Now

 

The cost is $400 per share. Only 50 shares are available in 2014. Purchase yours today from the LAC office. Credit card orders may be placed by phone Monday through Friday between 9 am and 4 pm. Make checks payable to "Lincoln Arts Council" and mail or deliver to: 1701 South 17th Street, Suite 1A; Lincoln, NE 68502-2641. For more information, [email protected] or www.artscene.org/community-supported-art.

 

 

Union Bank and Trust Company
Thanks to our corporate sponsor

Give to Lincoln [Arts Council!] Day 2014

     

May 29 is Give to Lincoln Day and we invite you to put the Lincoln Arts Council on your list of Lincoln non-profits to support on that day. It is great to be part of the energy generated by a city-wide giving event.

 

Donations made between 12:00 am and 11:59 pm on May 29 will count toward our Give to Lincoln Day match. The challenge match fund is $300,000 this year and each participating non-profit will receive a percentage based upon the total amount of gifts designated for that organization. There are 258 non-profits registered. LAC is one of 150 organizations that are returning for the third year!

 

Online donations are preferred. You can schedule a Give to Lincoln Day donation starting May 1. Go to http://givetolincoln.razoo.com/story/Lincoln-Arts-Council.  Online gifts made here can be designated as weekly, monthly or annual transactions. (Consider an easy, regular gift made to LAC automatically!) Donations may also be made by check, though there is no financial advantage to LAC as the same processing fee applies to both online and hand-delivered donations. Checks received in our office before 4:00 pm on May 29 should be made payable to Lincoln Community Foundation with Lincoln Arts Council in the memo.

 

Allstate Donor Drawings - Throughout the day, Lincoln Community Foundation will choose 24 online donors at random, one each hour of the event. These donors will have an additional bonus grant of $300 added to the donation that donor made to their nonprofit organization. Hey, nightowls - consider making your gift in the wee hours of May 29. This should increase your odds at winning one of the hourly drawings!


LPS Community Learning Centers Art Walk Opening

     
Impressionist Scratchboard Drawing by "Awesome Artist" Amany, Grade 4
When you're out and about for First Friday, don't forget about the Lincoln Public Schools CLC Art Walk! In Historic City Hall, the CLC Art Walk gives the opportunity for young artists involved the opportunity to display their art in a gallery venue. The Lincoln Arts Council AmeriCorps Members Alma Cerretta and Joshua Thorne are proud that many of their "Awesome Artists" students from Belmont Elementary will have paintings, drawings, and clay sculptures displayed in this opening, so come out and celebrate all the hard work these students have done this year!

What: LPS Community Learning Centers Art Walk
Where: Historic City Hall, 902 O St.
When: First Friday, May 2 from 6pm - 8pm


Union Bank Unveils Nebraska Artist Designed Debit Cards Friday, May 2

     

Union Bank & Trust is partnering with three renowned Nebraska artists to offer new and current customers nine limited edition debit card designs. The featured artwork designs will be unveiled at a First Friday Artwalk event from 6 to 9 p.m., Friday, May 2, at Union Bank's downtown branch, located at 13th and O streets. The artists, each providing three limited edition designs for the campaign, are Joel Sartore, Jun Kaneko and Michael Forsberg.

 

"We are saluting Nebraska artists who have shone a light on how special this state is through their artwork and photography," said Kevin Keller, First Vice President - Marketing at Union Bank & Trust. "Giving back to the causes close to those artists' hearts with the Limited Edition Debit Card campaign is a great way to say 'thank you' for all they've done. Plus, to have their artwork on your debit card is pretty cool."

More...

Lincoln Arts Festival Application

May 12th Deadline!

 
2011 Lincoln Arts Festival

 

Last year was one of the best Lincoln Arts Festivals ever, with perfect weather, great attendance, new and delicious food vendors, and great festival energy. This year, the dates are September 27th and 28th, at SouthPointe Pavilions' west parking lot. 2014's festival will feature great artists, a world of entertainment, a presold artist patron program, and hospitality like no other! 

 

Local artists who enjoy a festival setting and would like to be a part of the festival should remember that our juried show has an application deadline of May 12th. Applications may be completed online at Zapplication.org. If you've never gone to Zapplication.org before, setting up an artist profile is easy and costs nothing. You will then have access to loads of information on our festival and many others. Remember, our application deadline is May 12th. Join us for a good time. 


Spring Fundraiser: Education Outreachundefined

 
Elliott students creating books with teaching artist Jordan Buschur.

The Lincoln Vital Signs Report confirms that communities where people want to live have flourishing arts and cultural programs. At approximately 23 arts organizations per 100,000 population, Lincoln has a relatively large number of non-profit arts organizations compared to cities like Austin, Colorado Springs, Sioux Falls and Topeka. Only Madison, Wisconsin has more at 26.

 

Vital Signs also reports that Lincoln lags in per capita support of these organizations coming in at $85 annually compared to $102 in Austin, $102 in Sioux Falls and $160 in Madison.

 

Here is your opportunity to improve those stats and help the Lincoln Arts Council flourish! Your gift is what keeps our program and operation vital as we serve the wider community on behalf of the arts. You know our challenges. Please consider being part of our opportunities!

 

Won't you add strength to our vital signs? Donations are welcome in any amount and can be made by check or online at www.artscene.org/donate.

LAC Project Grant Showcase    

We are excited to share the great work of the arts community that we help fund each year through LAC Project Grants.  The grants are designed to assist in the sustainability of current programming or to fund new ideas that provide arts opportunities in our diverse community.

 

Featured Project: Las Hermanas Padilla

 

Las Hermanas Padilla Thanks in part to the Lincoln Arts Council, the Angels Theatre Company production of Las Hermanas Padilla brought together a playwright from Brooklyn,10 actresses from Lincoln, 2 young stage managers from UNL, a scenic designer from Malcolm, a videographer living in Sweden, a costumer from Crete, a lighting designer who got married the day of our second technical rehearsal, a sound designer from Omaha, a technical director who used to be the scenic designers' student at Southwest High School, a composer and musician from Peru, Lied staff and the many people who helped the actors and creative team understand the cultural connections, a director transplanted from Pennsylvania, 530 audience members, 8 post performance facilitators, 25 workshop participants +++.  All of these people came together to do the hard work of making theatre and the remarkable payoff of sharing the stories of what it means to be human.

 

articleFeatured Project: South African Soweto Gospel Choir workshop at Irving Middle School

 

Soweto Gospel Choir Funding from the Lincoln Arts Council's Project Grant helped bring over 60 choir students from Irving Middle School to the Lied Center's main stage auditorium to participate in a special workshop with world-renowned South African Soweto Gospel Choir. During the workshop, held on March 25, 2014, several members of the Soweto Gospel Choir shared helpful lessons with the attending middle school students in topics ranging from harmonizing, breathing, warm-ups, African drums, and stage presence. Following these lessons, Irving choir students joined Soweto Gospel Choir on the Lied Center's main stage to learn and perform one of Soweto's songs and choreography. The Irving students then had the opportunity to perform a choral piece of their own for Soweto Gospel Choir. The evening included attendance at Soweto Gospel Choir's main stage season performance at the Lied Center. Learning and great smiles everywhere!

 

Click here for the video. 


CSArt Update

 

  

The artists for Community Support Art (CSArt) 2014 are at work preparing their pieces for our lucky art share-holders this season. [There is still time to get yours!] This article is third and final in a series featuring CSArtists. Information about all of the artists can be viewed any time at www.artscene.org/community-supported-art.

 

 

Matel Rokke - will create Native Lumens using Lumen photogenic drawing by placing organic objects directly on light sensitive photographic materials. Once the materials have been exposed to sunlight, they are put through a special developing process to capture the range of color and detail unique to this method. "The distinctive Lumen Print will make a great addition to the CSArt program by giving each share-holder a one-of-a-kind image that can't be recreated. Using organic materials and plants indigenous to the area will give it the sensibility of a truly local item. It is one way to preserve a fragile part of our landscape into a photogenic drawing which will last for a lifetime."

  

www.matelrokke.com 

 

 

   

 

Katie Taylor Frisch -- A textile artist currently working in nuno felting. Katie will be felting locally sourced fibers, then dying and printing them using locally found plant materials. This is done by laying out the plant materials on a white hand-made cloth, then wrapping it tightly and soak with various mordants. Each of these individual experiments will be wrapped on a 9x12 inch frame for display. "I am drawn to this process because the wool acts as a co-creator with me. I make decisions about much of what I want to occur by my choice of material, layout, etc., but ultimately the fibers will do what is in their nature to do. I give up a certain amount of control, and am amazed that each time the fiber becomes fabric, but not necessarily as I expected."

 

www.feedingthelake.com 

 

 

 

 

Crisha Yantis - a ceramic artist finishing her graduate degree at UNL. Primarily working in large -scale installations, for CSArt Crisha is creating 50 clay pieces, each about 7 inches in height. 30 are upside down people with 10 functioning as shot glasses, 10 functioning as spice or salt shakers, and 10 functioning as rattles. The other 20 are wall people with dangling legs. 10 function as people on the wall with corks for fun and the other 10 simply hang on the wall. "Each of these people are hand-made by pinching together little pieces of clay, each one is then sanded smooth and receives their own designs often influenced by little variations in form. Finally the finishing colors complete their unique character. Collectors can experience a piece of what they may not have space for in the home with the additional benefit of an item which functions and brings together the beauty of art for use and art for pleasure."   

 

www.crishayantis.com 

 

 

 

 

   


May First Friday 

Before you head out for First Friday on May 2nd, be sure to check out our interactive First Friday Guide.

video
And Now, Your Moment of Artistic Zen.

Moment of Zen - May 2014

Irving choir students joined Soweto Gospel Choir on the Lied Center's main stage to learn and perform one of Soweto's songs and choreography.  More...

What inspiring acts are you up to?  Send your videos to [email protected], and you could be in our next newsletter!

The Lincoln Arts Council Published by the Lincoln Arts Council

1701 South 17th Street, Suite 1A
Lincoln, NE 68502

Phone: 402-434-2787
General Email: [email protected]
Events Email: [email protected]
Website: www.artscene.org