Meet Me Where You Are (Or, How Not to Starve an Artist,) Amplify’s current Generation Series project, asks how artists and arts workers in three different cities are making space, making a living, and enacting more just modes of co-existence. 

To expand on the exhibition’s themes, Amplify is hosting a virtual panel discussion with artists and organizers Amanada Huckins, Alex Jochim, Joseph Orzal, Bilgesu Sisman, Marcey Yates, and Rachel Ziegler on Wednesday, December 11th starting at 7pm. Register to join the conversation on Zoom and hear more about how artists are experimenting with alternative models of economic organization and building resilience in the face of precarity and the uncertain future of arts funding.

Free and open to all. Please register to attend and come with your thoughts and questions. You’ll receive an email with a link to join the discussion on Zoom after registering.

Read more on the topic before the discussion on the Alternate Currents blog. Alternate Currents programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

About the Panelists:

Amanada Huckins is a Nebraskan poet whose work has been published in booklet form as "Trying to End the War" (merrily merrily merrily merrily, 2017) and featured in A Dozen Nothing (adozennothing.com), among other places on paper and online. In her weekday hours, Amanda is an Early Head Start educator and participates in building the brain architecture for social emotional and cognitive development in infants and toddlers. In addition to her paid work, Amanda is a grassroots organizer who works alongside fellow community members to build self-determination, forge non-transactional relationships, and create radical free spaces (such as past DIY spaces The Commons in Lincoln, NE and Media Corp. in Omaha). She is also a letterpress printer who produces posters and other ephemera in her garage print studio, where she teaches typesetting to anyone who wants to learn.

Alex Jochim is an Omaha, NE based photographer, community organizer, and gallery operator. He is the co-founder and director of BFF Omaha, a local arts nonprofit building community through arts engagement. He is founder, curator, & co-director of Petshop, a community art space housing artist studios, galleries, co-working & public event space.  Through these endeavors, he has also played a role in numerous community events, projects, and programs, including the MaMO Gallery, BFF Gallery, Trudy’s (artist studios and education space), the New American Arts Festival, Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards, Benson Out Back (alleyway improvement initiative), and the Benson Creative District (2022).  He is the recipient of the Cultural Stewardship Award (OEAAs) and Nonprofit Changemaker Award (Greater Omaha Chamber).

Joseph Orzal, a first-generation Washingtonian and graduate of the Corcoran College of Art (2010) with a Master's in Curatorial Practice from MICA, founded NoMuNoMu in 2014 as a space for artists to challenge systemic oppression through creative expression. Over time, NoMuNoMu has grown into a dynamic arts platform, driven by strategic partnerships with prominent institutions such as Long Live Go-Go (Mochella), the Washington Project for the Arts, Transformer, the Phillips Collection, The Hirshhorn, The Martin Luther King Jr. Library, and The Marion Barry Foundation. These collaborations have expanded NoMuNoMu’s influence, positioning it as an emerging arts ecosystem in Baltimore. Focused on inclusivity, radical pedagogy, and wellness, the gallery offers diverse programming that empowers both artists and the community, fostering a space where art and activism thrive together.

Bilgesu Sisman is a writer, film programmer, and educator, who has worked in arts nonprofits and academia and has been part of multiple grassroots organizations around anti-capitalism, cooperative economies, and participatory democracies. She currently works as the Director of Cinematheque at Cleveland Institute of Art.

Marcey Yates is a hip hop artist and music producer based in Omaha, NE. With a sound that can be described as expressive vinyl hip hop, Yates partially attributes his soulful vibe and sample ­based production to his influences,Yates is 5x Omaha Arts and Entertainment award winner and a NAACP Freedom Fighter Award and Cultural Stewardship Award. As Marcey has progressed in music over the years he has become more expressive with not only music but art and activism. He has become more adept at expressing his feelings through lyrics and visual art.

Rachel Ziegler is a multimedia artist who works across performance, painting, collage, and mosaic to create works that are layered, colorful, and complex. Using collage techniques of cutting and pasting, she embellishes personal stories while contemplating the role of technology and the mixing of time and symbols. Ziegler graduated from Concordia University in Seward, NE with a BFA in Commercial Art. She is also the founder and director of The Church/Art House, a 501c3 not for profit organization, located in a decommissioned church in South Omaha, whose mission is to inspire creativity and connection.

To mark the closing of Gathering at Amplify’s Generator Space on Friday, October 18th from 7:00pm - 8:00pm, artists Mi’oux Stabler and Lydia Cheshewalla will sit down for a conversation, moderated by Casey Welsch, about Native food sovereignty and Native-led efforts to reclaim local food systems. Together, they’ll explore the role food sovereignty plays in confronting generations of colonial dispossession and revitalizing community health, economic autonomy, and cultural traditions.

Free and open to all. Please RSVP to help us plan.

Gathering, a collaborative exhibition organized by Valerie St. Pierre Smith, considers the act of gathering–gathering kin, gathering medicine, gathering songs–as an embodied practice that uplifts indigenous lifeways and ancestral healing practices. Exhibition artists and organizers assert food and plant medicine pathways in the immersive, indigenized environment of the exhibition space to question the disconnects and detachments of an increasingly commodified contemporary health and wellness industry. 

Generator Space is wheelchair accessible and located on a fairly busy street with a decent amount of traffic. Please use crosswalks for safety. Unmetered street parking is available on Vinton Street, 18th Street, and neighborhood streets to the north and west of the space. 

Alternate Currents programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

About the Panelists:

Lydia Cheshewalla is an Osage ephemeral artist from Oklahoma, living and working in motion throughout the Great Plains ecoregion. Through the creation of site-specific land art and ephemeral installations grounded in Indigenous land stewardship practices and kinship pedagogies, Lydia engages in multivocal conversations about place and relationship. By working within a framework of change and collaborating with beyond-human kin, she rejects Capitalist reliance on scarcity, immortality, preciousness, and waste production in the creation of value and remains responsive (responsible) to the realities of shifting ecologies in an age of climate crisis. Her work has been shown at Generator Space, the Union for Contemporary Art (Omaha, NE), Comfort Station, Harold Washington Library, the Center for Native Futures, and EXPO Chicago (Chicago, IL) among others. She was awarded a 2020 Tallgrass Artist Residency, participated in the 2022/23 Chicago Art Department Think Tank:On Mending, and is a 2024 Spring Tanda Fellow through Chuquimarca Projects in Chicago. She has been filling the bucket with water to see if it leaks.

Mi’oux Stabler is a member of the Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation whose tribal lands are located in northeast Nebraska along the banks of the Missouri River. She is a proud mother, artist, land tender, and a dedicated cultural advocate. For the past decade, her endeavors have been geared towards the revitalization of traditional languages and land stewardship practices. She has traveled extensively, but currently focuses her work in the ancestral homelands of the Umoⁿhoⁿ people.

About the Moderator:

Casey Welsch is a working class writer, cook, journalist, and organizer. Born and raised on a dryland Nebraska farm, he now lives and works in central Omaha. As a multimedia journalist in southeast Nebraska, Casey started a community news service at KZUM radio in Lincoln, was a founding member of the Dandelion Network mutual aid group, and was a regular contributor to Hear Nebraska and Perfect Pour magazine. These days he is focusing on his other life's work as a cook, working at Methodist Hospital, feeding the sick and those who care for them.

Gathering, a collaborative exhibition organized by Valerie St. Pierre Smith, considers the act of gathering–gathering kin, gathering medicine, gathering songs–as an embodied practice that uplifts indigenous lifeways and ancestral healing practices.

Join us Friday, September 27th from 7pm - 9pm for Word Salad, a writing workshop with Casey Welsch. Please register to help us plan!

Word Salad

All it takes to make a good pot of Stone Soup is a stone, a pot, some water, and a community with something to share. Can a good story be made the same way? Casey Welsch invites Omaha writers to a collaborative writing workshop Friday, September 27th, to see what kinds of stories arise when everyone contributes just a few little ingredients. We're making Word Salad

Generator Space is wheelchair accessible and located on a fairly busy street with a decent amount of traffic. Please use crosswalks for safety. Unmetered street parking is available on Vinton Street, 18th Street, and neighborhood streets to the north and west of the space.

Generator Series programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

About Gathering Artists: 

Alex Jacobsen explores the interconnectedness of space, memory, and body primarily through psychoacoustics and somatic vibrations. Visually, they often use found electronics, liquids, and naked loudspeakers to create ceaselessly changing environments. In live performances, Alex often incorporates feedback, processed recordings, and amplified objects, creating a collectively remembered soundscape. In recent years, Alex has contributed music for a number of film and dance projects, and their work has been featured across the United States, Mexico, and Europe, including Radiophrenia Art Festival, ESS’s Quarantine Concert Series, and Konvent Puntzero.

Valerie St. Pierre Smith A two-spirit mischief maker, multi-disciplinary designer/artisan, scholar, writer, and healer, Valerie has an eclectic creative background including fiber arts, costume, textile, and fashion design. Her costume work has been seen across the country with highlights that include McCarter Theater, Berkeley Rerpertory Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Sea World: San Diego, the National Museum of the American Indian, and Pilobolus Dance Theatre. A bit of a unicorn, Valerie’s creative research and scholarly work focuses on appropriation, inspiration, representation, and decolonization in western design practices. Her creative practice explores, and is deeply influenced by, her lived experiences as a mixed-blood Annishnaabe kwe, focusing on the confluence of healing, social justice, traditional Anishinaabe teachings, and the power of identity. St. Pierre Smith holds a B.F.A from Stephens College, and an M.F.A from San Diego State University.

Noah Smith is a photographer based in Omaha, NE currently attending Central High School. His foray into photography started when he got a camera before he went on a family trip to Africa.  He has reignited his interest in photography over the past year. Combined with his interest in meteorology, his type of photography is focused mainly on capturing dynamic weather and natural phenomenon, but he ventures into different genres as well. 

Mi’oux Stabler is a member of the Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation whose tribal lands are located in northeast Nebraska along the banks of the Missouri River. She is a proud mother, artist, land tender, and a dedicated cultural advocate. For the past decade, her endeavors have been geared towards the revitalization of traditional languages and land stewardship practices. She has traveled extensively, but currently focuses her work in the ancestral homelands of the Umoⁿhoⁿ people.

Casey Welsch is a working class writer, cook, journalist, and organizer. Born and raised on a dryland Nebraska farm, he now lives and works in central Omaha. As a multimedia journalist in southeast Nebraska, Casey started a community news service at KZUM radio in Lincoln, was a founding member of the Dandelion Network mutual aid group, and was a regular contributor to Hear Nebraska and Perfect Pour magazine. These days he is focusing on his other life's work as a cook, working at Methodist Hospital, feeding the sick and those who care for them.

Gathering, a collaborative exhibition organized by Valerie St. Pierre Smith, considers the act of gathering–gathering kin, gathering medicine, gathering songs–as an embodied practice that uplifts indigenous lifeways and ancestral healing practices.

Join us Friday, September 13th from 6pm - 9pm to celebrate the exhibition opening with Stone Soup. Registration is appreciated but not necessary to participate!

Stone Soup

A hungry person alone against the world eats only stones, but a community that gathers around a single pot in a spirit of generosity enjoys a feast all can share. Gather with us on Friday, September 13th, for a special delicacy: Stone Soup. It's almost ready, it just needs one more ingredient: whatever you have. Please bring one vegan soup ingredient to Generator Space from 6pm - 9pm, where Chef Casey will prepare it and add it to the soup, served free of charge. Let's feast together.

Suggested ingredients:

Onion

Carrot

Celery

Cabbage

Potato

Tomato

Corn

Peas

Kale

Broccoli

Beets

Cauliflower

Rice

Beans (prepared)

Barley

Spices

Please bring your own mug for soup! Utensils will be provided.

Generator Space is wheelchair accessible and located on a fairly busy street with a decent amount of traffic. Please use crosswalks for safety. Unmetered street parking is available on Vinton Street, 18th Street, and neighborhood streets to the north and west of the space.

Generator Series programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

About Gathering Artists: 

Alex Jacobsen explores the interconnectedness of space, memory, and body primarily through psychoacoustics and somatic vibrations. Visually, they often use found electronics, liquids, and naked loudspeakers to create ceaselessly changing environments. In live performances, Alex often incorporates feedback, processed recordings, and amplified objects, creating a collectively remembered soundscape. In recent years, Alex has contributed music for a number of film and dance projects, and their work has been featured across the United States, Mexico, and Europe, including Radiophrenia Art Festival, ESS’s Quarantine Concert Series, and Konvent Puntzero.

Valerie St. Pierre Smith A two-spirit mischief maker, multi-disciplinary designer/artisan, scholar, writer, and healer, Valerie has an eclectic creative background including fiber arts, costume, textile, and fashion design. Her costume work has been seen across the country with highlights that include McCarter Theater, Berkeley Rerpertory Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Sea World: San Diego, the National Museum of the American Indian, and Pilobolus Dance Theatre. A bit of a unicorn, Valerie’s creative research and scholarly work focuses on appropriation, inspiration, representation, and decolonization in western design practices. Her creative practice explores, and is deeply influenced by, her lived experiences as a mixed-blood Annishnaabe kwe, focusing on the confluence of healing, social justice, traditional Anishinaabe teachings, and the power of identity. St. Pierre Smith holds a B.F.A from Stephens College, and an M.F.A from San Diego State University.

Noah Smith is a photographer based in Omaha, NE currently attending Central High School. His foray into photography started when he got a camera before he went on a family trip to Africa.  He has reignited his interest in photography over the past year. Combined with his interest in meteorology, his type of photography is focused mainly on capturing dynamic weather and natural phenomenon, but he ventures into different genres as well. 

Mi’oux Stabler is a member of the Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation whose tribal lands are located in northeast Nebraska along the banks of the Missouri River. She is a proud mother, artist, land tender, and a dedicated cultural advocate. For the past decade, her endeavors have been geared towards the revitalization of traditional languages and land stewardship practices. She has traveled extensively, but currently focuses her work in the ancestral homelands of the Umoⁿhoⁿ people.

Casey Welsch is a working class writer, cook, journalist, and organizer. Born and raised on a dryland Nebraska farm, he now lives and works in central Omaha. As a multimedia journalist in southeast Nebraska, Casey started a community news service at KZUM radio in Lincoln, was a founding member of the Dandelion Network mutual aid group, and was a regular contributor to Hear Nebraska and Perfect Pour magazine. These days he is focusing on his other life's work as a cook, working at Methodist Hospital, feeding the sick and those who care for them.

Sequin/ce, is a community co-created collaborative project organized by Joy Cotton and Aspen M. Laboy who collected photographs that visually interpret notions of queer joy through an open submission process. They then assembled photographs into a large-scale collage that wraps the gallery space in a visual manifesto of collective power, enduring presence, and joyful resistance.

On Friday, August 9th, the exhibition will become a stage for a night of performances by Cash Too, Cassy Jensen, Aspen M. Laboy, and Noni that celebrate queer joy as a mode of resistance to legislation designed to destabilize and disenfranchise Nebraska’s LGBTQIA2S+ communities.

Performance Schedule:

• 6:00pm: Doors Open

• 7:00pm: Readings by Aspen M. Laboy, Cassy Jensen, and Noni

• 8:00pm: Performance by Cash Too

Free and open to all. Please register to attend!

Generator Space is wheelchair accessible and located on a fairly busy street with a decent amount of traffic. Please use crosswalks for safety. Unmetered street parking is available on Vinton Street, 18th Street, and neighborhood streets to the north and west of the space. 

Generator Series programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

About the Performers:

Chef, Musician, Lover, Someone Somewhere accompanied by their best friend, Joe. This duo goes by Cash Too. They are a Johnny Cash cover band. Cash Too wants you to know, "THE WORLD IS YOURS."

Cassy Jensen, a writer hailing from Omaha, NE, employs a creative process that commences with attentive listening, keen observation, and a deep connection to emotions. Articulating her responses through various mediums, including poetry, fiction, stand-up, screenwriting, public speaking, and performance, she showcases a diverse range of expressive talents. Bridging the realms of humor and poignancy, her poems evoke laughter, while her comedy explores themes of sadness. As a conscientious storyteller, Cassy recognizes the profound influence that medium and context wield over the reception and real-world consequences of a message for its audience. Pursuing truth and delving into the complexities of ethics, morality, power dynamics, epistemology, oppression, and trauma, she navigates the ambiguities and paradoxes of these subjects. Her ultimate goal is to emerge from each endeavor with newfound wisdom and a touch more confusion, to walk away with something new to chew on.

Aspen M. Laboy (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist from Omaha, Nebraska working in poetry, glass sculpting, installation, and film photography. Exploring concepts of environmentalism, internal identity, and cultural heritage, they are influenced by nature, science, and philosophy. Aspen has three published books; “Spirit” (2017), “The Quiet Lion” (2018), and “I MATTER” (2022). They co-hosted the poetry workshop “Corner’s Space” at KANEKO and have performed poetry in various galleries. In 2023, several of their selected poems were aired on “Friday Live'' with Nebraska Public Media through NPR. Their work has been exhibited at MoonRise Gallery, Fleabane Gallery, Goldsmith Silversmith, LUX Center for the Arts, Generator Space, Family of Things, and Union Street Gallery. Currently, Aspen is one of the selected artists for the Alternate Currents Cohort through Amplify Arts. In addition, they were awarded a scholarship for Penland School of Craft to attend in Summer of 2024.

Noni Williams is a senior cloud data engineer, a teaching artist, an independent data consultant, a performance poet, a storyteller, a mathematician, a philosopher born and raised in North Omaha, Nebraska. As a queer, Black person in the Midwest, Noni has created an intentional space for self expression in her approach to mathematics, in her poetry, through fashion, and collaborations with artists in her community. Noni spends most of her time training data analytics apprentices, exploring storytelling with data, writing, mentoring, tutoring, fencing, finding purpose in using mathematical concepts to explore the perceived world around her, and fostering the joy of that exploration in others. Williams is a Ten Outstanding Young Omahan, Ten Outstanding Young American, and has created work featured by Opera Omaha, Kiewit Luminarium, Juneteenth JoyFest, AfroFest, Omaha Diversity Experience, Nonprofit Association of the Midlands, and Silicon Prairie News.

Kiewit Luminarium is teaming up with Amplify Arts to open a public call for GLOW, the Luminarium’s annual exhibition of light, art, and science.

GLOW is a joyful exhibition that includes work by regional, national, and international artists working with light as a medium to invite participation, reflection, and connections to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).

New and existing work by Lincoln- and Omaha/Council Bluffs-area artists will be selected for the exhibition through an open call before the exhibition opens on November 14th, 2024. Selected artists will be awarded project budgets in amounts of $2,500 for existing work and $7,500 for new work.

Questions about eligibility, application materials and timeline, the review process or what to expect if your application is selected? Register for a 15 minute appointment on Zoom during virtual Office Hours to talk with a member of Amplify's staff and get one-on-one application support. Virtual Office Hours are open:

• July 15th, 6pm - 8pm

• July 22nd, 11am - 1pm

After registering, you'll receive a confirmation email from Eventbrite that includes a link to an attendee event page where you will find a Zoom link to join Virtual Office Hours. Please do not discard your confirmation email. Email info@amplifyarts.org if your unable to join your meeting.

Kiewit Luminarium's GLOW Call for Art is open through July 28th, 2024. Click here to view the full application and submit: https://amplifyarts.submittable.com/submit

About Kiewit Luminarium

The Luminarium is a next generation science center with more than 145 interactive exhibits that explore the astonishing phenomena shaping our multi-sensory world.

About Amplify Arts

Amplify Arts provides resources for artists, organizers, and cultural workers to incubate liberatory ideas that move our community forward.

Kiewit Luminarium is teaming up with Amplify Arts to open a public call for GLOW, the Luminarium’s annual exhibition of light, art, and science.

GLOW is a joyful exhibition that includes work by regional, national, and international artists working with light as a medium to invite participation, reflection, and connections to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).

New and existing work by Lincoln- and Omaha/Council Bluffs-area artists will be selected for the exhibition through an open call before the exhibition opens on November 14th, 2024. Selected artists will be awarded project budgets in amounts of $2,500 for existing work and $7,500 for new work.

Questions about eligibility, application materials and timeline, the review process or what to expect if your application is selected? Register for a 15 minute appointment on Zoom during virtual Office Hours to talk with a member of Amplify's staff and get one-on-one application support. Virtual Office Hours are open:

• July 15th, 6pm - 8pm

• July 22nd, 11am - 1pm

After registering, you'll receive a confirmation email from Eventbrite that includes a link to an attendee event page where you will find a Zoom link to join Virtual Office Hours. Please do not discard your confirmation email. Email info@amplifyarts.org if your unable to join your meeting.

Kiewit Luminarium's GLOW Call for Art is open through July 28th, 2024. Click here to view the full application and submit: https://amplifyarts.submittable.com/submit

About Kiewit Luminarium

The Luminarium is a next generation science center with more than 145 interactive exhibits that explore the astonishing phenomena shaping our multi-sensory world.

About Amplify Arts

Amplify Arts provides resources for artists, organizers, and cultural workers to incubate liberatory ideas that move our community forward.

Kiewit Luminarium is teaming up with Amplify Arts to open a public call for GLOW, the Luminarium’s annual exhibition of light, art, and science.

GLOW is a joyful exhibition that includes work by regional, national, and international artists working with light as a medium to invite participation, reflection, and connections to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).

New and existing work by Lincoln- and Omaha/Council Bluffs-area artists will be selected for the exhibition through an open call before the exhibition opens on November 14th, 2024. Selected artists will be awarded project budgets in amounts of $2,500 for existing work and $7,500 for new work.

During an in-person info session at Kiewit Luminarium (345 Riverfront Dr) starting at 6:00pm, Luminarium and Amplfiy staff will share more about:

• GLOW,

• Eligibility,

• Application materials and timeline,

• The review process,

• And what to expect if your application is selected.

This Info Session is free and open to all. Please register to attend.

Kiewit Luminarium is located at 345 Riverfront Dr in Omaha. Surface parking is available in the lot west of the building's entrance. Please be attentive to traffic in the area and use crosswalks for safety.

Kiewit Luminarium's GLOW Call for Art is open through July 28th, 2024. Click here to view the full application and submit: https://amplifyarts.submittable.com/submit.

About Kiewit Luminarium

The Luminarium is a next generation science center with more than 145 interactive exhibits that explore the astonishing phenomena shaping our multi-sensory world.

About Amplify Arts

Amplify Arts provides resources for artists, organizers, and cultural workers to incubate liberatory ideas that move our community forward.

pr0xy-fl3$h: requiem, organized by Alex Jacobsen and Lauren Simpson, explores the relationship between nonverbal communication and consent. To mark the closing of the exhibition at Generator Space on Friday, June 14th, Rainy M., Lee Emma Running, and Lauren Simpson will sit down for a conversation, punctuated by interactive Contact Improvisation and Deep Listening exercises, that considers approaches to interrogating the boundaries of direct and implied consent between artist, materials, and audience across disciplines.  

After the discussion, small groups of five to ten people will be guided through performances of pr0xy-fl3$h: requiem every fifteen minutes from 7:45pm - 9:00pm. 

pr0xy-fl3$h: requiem Interactive Panel Discussion and Performance Schedule:

• 6:00pm: Doors Open

• 6:30pm: Interactive Panel Discussion

• 7:45pm: pr0xy-fl3$h: requiem Performances Every Fifteen Minutes Until 9:00pm

Free and open to all. Please register in Eventbrite for the panel discussion portion of the evening to help us plan. Registration is not necessary to participate in a performance of pr0xy-fl3$h: requiem after the discussion. Those who would like to participate in a performance will be welcomed in small groups of 5 to 10 people on a first come, first served basis.  

Generator Space is wheelchair accessible and located on a fairly busy street with a decent amount of traffic. Please use crosswalks for safety. Unmetered street parking is available on Vinton Street, 18th Street, and neighborhood streets to the north and west of the space. 

Alternate Currents programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

About the Panelists:

Rainy M. (she/they) is a queer interdisciplinary artist from Pittsburgh, PA. She holds a Master's Degree in Painting and Sculpture from California State University, Northridge. She is best known for her noise projects; farrah faucet, disappearing, and Piss Fits. Through the lens of their own sick, queer body, Rainy uses sound and video to create healing rituals, performances, and objects that examine concepts of identity, modes of relation, permanence and decay.

Lee Emma Running is an artist creating arresting sculptures with roadkill animal bones, kiln-cast glass, and precious metals. She also fabricates monumental public installations on windows.  For the last 15 years, she has been using this work to engage audiences in conversations about the impact of human-built systems on the natural world.

Lee is a 2023 Resident in the Arts/Industry program at Kohler and a 2022/23 Artist in Residence with Opera Omaha. She was also a 2017/18 Iowa Arts Council Fellow.

Permanent installations of her work can be viewed at the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, the Bernheim Arboretum, and Upper Iowa University. Her work has been featured in exhibitions at the Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, National Taiwan University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan, Form and Concept Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, and PACE Gallery, Council Bluffs, IA. She has also been a speaker with TEDx, Omaha.

Lee was a Professor of Art at Grinnell College from 2005- 2021 and holds an MFA from the University of Iowa, and a BFA from Pratt Institute. Her work is represented by Olson-Larsen Galleries. 

About the Moderator:

Lauren Simpson is an Omaha-based choreographer and educator. She created Moving Truck, a mobile and socially-distanced show performed on front lawns at residences throughout Omaha in 2020. Recent projects include Smithereens, a site specific performance in Joslyn Art Museum with music by Omaha musician Miwi LaLupa, Celestial Real Estate, a collaborative performance at Generator Space gallery featuring local artists Nick Miller (painter), Celeste Butler (textile designer), and Dereck Higgins (musician), and Self-Leveling a performance at ODC Theater San Francisco in collaboration with dancer Galen Rogers and visual artist Emma Strebel. Collaboration across disciplines is at the heart of her art making. 

About pr0xy-fl3$h: requiem Artists

Erin Brandt, an Omaha native, began dancing as a student of classical ballet and pointe through Ballet Omaha from elementary through college. In 2013, Erin began to explore modern dance. Since then, she has had incredible opportunities to study with Bandaloop in Oakland, CA & Gaga technique with Margarida Macieira. Performance opportunities including guest artist spots in both live and film production with tbd an Omaha based dance collective. Choreographic,film and performance opportunities with Fortuna Producción Escénica in Jalisco, Mexico, Andre VanderVelde and Karla Adolphe. Erin considers it a great honor to continue down her path as an artist, working alongside the incredible artists of Vōx Dance Collective. 

Natalie Hanson/Facade Queen is a multidisciplinary music, theater and movement artist from Tacoma, Washington residing in Omaha. She came to Omaha in 2014 to study Musical Theatre and Dance and is also a self taught musician and producer. In Omaha, Natalie has performed with the Bluebarn Theatre and The Rose Children’s Theatre, where she recently served as a full time company member and Associate Director of Early Childhood Education. Her solo project “Facade Queen” was nominated for Outstanding New Artist and Outstanding Pop from the OEAA awards and her duo project “Twin Pages” was recently nominated for Outstanding Alt/Indie. Natalie has performed professionally in Chicago, Illinois with Comedy Dance Chicago and Teatro Vista Theatre. Natalie has also collaborated with her sister, Emilie and local artists on their experimental music duo “Court The Muse” and has been a past recipient of Amplify Arts Generator Grant Series. Natalie is interested in exploring many topics in her work including mixed race identity, art for the very young, food, dance accessibility and connecting the community. 

Alex Jacobsen explores concepts inter-related to memory and somatics with sound. Their work often incorporates haptic technology and psychoacoustics, encompassing performance essays, radio art, soundwalk, and installation. His performances typically involve feedback, synthesizers, and personal recordings. Alex's work has been performed and exhibited in various parts of the United States, Mexico, and Europe, including ESS's Quarantine Concert Series, KANEKO, Ex Nihilo Festival, The Radiophrenia Art Festival, and Konvent Puntzero. Extending beyond his solo endeavors, Alex has contributed to many collaborative projects, including Movement5 for tbd dance collective and the films These Bodies and Violent Textures of Nature and Flesh, directed by Matthew Strasburger. Alex has previously worked as an event coordinator for the Omaha Under the Radar festival and continues to curate shows that showcase diverse and experimental art forms in the Great Plains region.

Casey Albert Welsch is a working class writer, cook, journalist, and organizer. Born and raised on a dryland Nebraska farm, he now lives and works in central Omaha. As a multimedia journalist in southeast Nebraska, Casey started a community news service at KZUM radio in Lincoln, was a founding member of the Dandelion Network mutual aid group, and was a regular contributor to Hear Nebraska and Perfect Pour magazine. These days he is focusing on his other life's work as a cook, working at Methodist Hospital, feeding the sick and those who care for them.

Additional Office Hours have been added on Thurday, May 30th from 11am - 1pm.*

The partners collaborating to build Omaha Public Library’s new Central Library are teaming up with Amplify Arts to open a call for permanent public artwork that will be installed in the interior and exterior spaces of the Central Library.

Artists, artist collectives, and collaborative groups from the Omaha metro area will be selected and awarded project budgets in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 to realize new work. Selected artists will collaborate with the project team throughout the design and installation process prior to the library’s opening in 2026.

Have questions about the building, eligibility, application materials and timeline, the review process or what to expect if your application is selected? Register for a 15 minute appointment on Zoom during virtual Office Hours to talk with a member of Amplify's staff and get one-on-one application support:

• May 13th, 6pm - 8pm

• May 23rd, 11am - 1pm

• May 30th, 11am - 1pm

You'll receive an email with a link to join on Zoom after registering.

Omaha Public Library's Central Library call is open through June 9, 2024. Click here to access the application and submit: https://amplifyarts.submittable.com/submit.

About Omaha Public Library’s Central Library

Omaha Public Library’s new Central Library will be a hub for creativity, collaboration, education, innovation, and workforce development. The library is currently under construction at the intersection of 72nd and Dodge streets and scheduled to open in 2026. Launched by Omaha Public Library and the City of Omaha in partnership with three nonprofit organizations - Omaha Public Library Foundation, Heritage Omaha, and Do Space - this new library is an important financial and cultural investment in literacy, digital equity, and community. The building is designed with accessibility in mind and includes spaces to learn, spaces to gather, and spaces to create for people of all ages. 

About Amplify Arts

Amplify Arts provides resources for artists, organizers, and cultural workers to incubate liberatory ideas that move our community forward.

Additional Office Hours have been added on Thurday, May 30th from 11am - 1pm.*

The partners collaborating to build Omaha Public Library’s new Central Library are teaming up with Amplify Arts to open a call for permanent public artwork that will be installed in the interior and exterior spaces of the Central Library.

Artists, artist collectives, and collaborative groups from the Omaha metro area will be selected and awarded project budgets in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 to realize new work. Selected artists will collaborate with the project team throughout the design and installation process prior to the library’s opening in 2026.

Have questions about the building, eligibility, application materials and timeline, the review process or what to expect if your application is selected? Register for a 15 minute appointment on Zoom during virtual Office Hours to talk with a member of Amplify's staff and get one-on-one application support:

• May 13th, 6pm - 8pm

• May 23rd, 11am - 1pm

• May 30th, 11am - 1pm

You'll receive an email with a link to join on Zoom after registering.

Omaha Public Library's Central Library call is open through June 9, 2024. Click here to access the application and submit: https://amplifyarts.submittable.com/submit.

About Omaha Public Library’s Central Library

Omaha Public Library’s new Central Library will be a hub for creativity, collaboration, education, innovation, and workforce development. The library is currently under construction at the intersection of 72nd and Dodge streets and scheduled to open in 2026. Launched by Omaha Public Library and the City of Omaha in partnership with three nonprofit organizations - Omaha Public Library Foundation, Heritage Omaha, and Do Space - this new library is an important financial and cultural investment in literacy, digital equity, and community. The building is designed with accessibility in mind and includes spaces to learn, spaces to gather, and spaces to create for people of all ages. 

About Amplify Arts

Amplify Arts provides resources for artists, organizers, and cultural workers to incubate liberatory ideas that move our community forward.

The partners collaborating to build Omaha Public Library’s new Central Library are teaming up with Amplify Arts to open a call for permanent public artwork that will be installed in the interior and exterior spaces of the Central Library.

Artists, artist collectives, and collaborative groups from the Omaha metro area will be selected and awarded project budgets in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 to realize new work. Selected artists will collaborate with the project team throughout the design and installation process prior to the library’s opening in 2026.

Have questions about the building, eligibility, application materials and timeline, the review process or what to expect if your application is selected? Register for a 15 minute appointment on Zoom during virtual Office Hours to talk with a member of Amplify's staff and get one-on-one application support:

• May 13th, 6pm - 8pm

• May 23rd, 11am - 1pm

You'll receive an email with a link to join on Zoom after registering.

Omaha Public Library's Central Library call is open through June 9, 2024. Click here to access the application and submit: https://amplifyarts.submittable.com/submit.

About Omaha Public Library’s Central Library

Omaha Public Library’s new Central Library will be a hub for creativity, collaboration, education, innovation, and workforce development. The library is currently under construction at the intersection of 72nd and Dodge streets and scheduled to open in 2026. Launched by Omaha Public Library and the City of Omaha in partnership with three nonprofit organizations - Omaha Public Library Foundation, Heritage Omaha, and Do Space - this new library is an important financial and cultural investment in literacy, digital equity, and community. The building is designed with accessibility in mind and includes spaces to learn, spaces to gather, and spaces to create for people of all ages. 

About Amplify Arts

Amplify Arts provides resources for artists, organizers, and cultural workers to incubate liberatory ideas that move our community forward.

The partners collaborating to build Omaha Public Library’s new Central Library are teaming up with Amplify Arts to open a call for permanent public artwork that will be installed in the interior and exterior spaces of the Central Library.

Artists, artist collectives, and collaborative groups from the Omaha metro area will be selected and awarded project budgets in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 to realize new work. Selected artists will collaborate with the project team throughout the design and installation process prior to the library’s opening in 2026.

During an in-person info session at Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture (1516 Cuming St) starting at 6:30pm, Amplify staff and representatives from the library building design team will share more about the call including details about:

• The building,

• Eligibility,

• Application materials and timeline,

• The review process,

• And what artists can expect if their application is selected.

This Info Session is free and open to all. Registration is preferred but not required to attend.

Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture is located on the first floor of the Tip Top building at 1516 Cuming Street, a fairly busy street. Please use crosswalks for safety. The number 4 bus stops directly in front of the building. There are also bike racks at the front of the building and surface parking at the front and rear of the building. Metered street parking is available to the south, east, and west of the building.

Omaha Public Library's Central Library call is open through June 9, 2024. Click here to access the application and submit: https://amplifyarts.submittable.com/submit.

About Omaha Public Library’s Central Library

Omaha Public Library’s new Central Library will be a hub for creativity, collaboration, education, innovation, and workforce development. The library is currently under construction at the intersection of 72nd and Dodge streets and scheduled to open in 2026. Launched by Omaha Public Library and the City of Omaha in partnership with three nonprofit organizations - Omaha Public Library Foundation, Heritage Omaha, and Do Space - this new library is an important financial and cultural investment in literacy, digital equity, and community. The building is designed with accessibility in mind and includes spaces to learn, spaces to gather, and spaces to create for people of all ages. 

About Amplify Arts

Amplify Arts provides resources for artists, organizers, and cultural workers to incubate liberatory ideas that move our community forward.

Creating More Hours: A Temporal Commons offers humanly-scaled models for combining creative practice, social connection, and mutual caregiving. During a series of workshops designed to expand and reclaim time through cooperative caregiving, the gallery space functions as a "temporal commons" for caregivers and their children. Collaborative care that allows participants to cycle between caregiving and artmaking is an integral part of each workshop.

On Friday, April 12th from 6pm - 7pm, Omaha based poet, caregiver, printmaker, and project organizer Amanda Huckins will guide an Alternate Currents panel discussion at Generator Space that brings together Creating More Hours participants Carolyn and Eden Erickson, Maritza N. Estrada, and Kelly Seacrest for a conversation about mutual caregiving and its potential as an embodied practice to build solidarity within creative communities. 

Free and open to all, the discussion begins at 6pm and will end at 7pm. Generator Space will remain open until 8pm to gather, talk, and share space after the discussion. Please register in Eventbrite to attend.

Generator Space is wheelchair accessible and located on a fairly busy street with a decent amount of traffic. Please use crosswalks for safety. Unmetered street parking is available on Vinton Street, 18th Street, and neighborhood streets to the north and west of the space. 

About the Panelists:

Carolyn Erickson's main role is Mom now but she's always been mothering- whether it be with her friends or plants. It’s her default mode. Outside of that, she enjoys crafting of any kind and being in nature. Eden Erickson loves to play and eat (especially fruit). She loves to learn new things and play outside. She loves cats and zebras.

Maritza N. Estrada earned her MFA in Creative Writing at Arizona State University. Estrada’s recent poem “Audience” was published in the Academy of American Poets—the nation’s leading champion of American poets and poetry. Born in Toppenish, Washington to Mexican parents, she calls Phoenix, Mexico City, and Paris, home. ¡Liberar Palestina!

Kelly Seacrest is an educator and artist. With her husband Peter Stegen, she founded Wild Learning in 2020, a Democratic Self Directed learning place for kids. As a facilitator at Wild Learning, she supports kids' learning by practicing democracy, engaging in conflict resolution, creating curriculum and being playful with them. Kelly also practices her art and loves painting, drawing and printmaking.

About the Moderator:

Amanda Huckins is a Nebraskan poet whose work has been published in booklet form as "Trying to End the War" (merrily merrily merrily merrily, 2017) and featured in A Dozen Nothing (adozennothing.com), among other places on paper and online. In her weekday hours, Amanda is an Early Head Start educator and participates in building the brain architecture for social emotional and cognitive development in infants and toddlers. In addition to her paid work, Amanda is a grassroots organizer who works alongside fellow community members to build self-determination, forge non-transactional relationships, and create radical free spaces (such as past DIY spaces The Commons in Lincoln, NE and Media Corp. in Omaha). She is also a letterpress printer who produces posters and other ephemera in her garage print studio, where she teaches typesetting to anyone who wants to learn.

Organized by poet, caregiver, and printmaker Amanda Huckins, Creating More Hours: A Temporal Commons offers humanly-scaled models for combining creative practice, social connection, and mutual caregiving. During a series of workshops designed to expand and reclaim time through cooperative caregiving, the gallery space functions as a "temporal commons" for caregivers and their children. 

Join Artur Melika for the last workshop in the series on Saturday, April 6th from 2pm - 4pm for a cookie decorating workshop highlighting techniques that lead to beautiful and tasty results.

Caregivers with children between the ages of 3- and 12-years-old are invited to participate. Please register to attend. This workshop can accommodate ten participants. 

Collaborative care that allows participants to cycle between caregiving and artmaking is an integral part of  this workshop. Workshop participants should expect to share in both caregiving and artmaking activities! 

Generator Space is wheelchair accessible and located on a fairly busy street with a decent amount of traffic. Please use crosswalks for safety. Unmetered street parking is available on Vinton Street, 18th Street, and neighborhood streets to the north and west of the space. 

Generator Series programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

About the Artists:

Artur Melika is an Omaha-based, queer, Ukrainian-American artist. Melika received his BFA from University of Nebraska Omaha in December of 2022. Art’s current work explores the vastness of the queer experience and how it manifests for individuals coming from different backgrounds. His primary focus is in 2D mediums including printmaking, drawing and painting. Melika is also exploring guerrilla style performance-based work, in public and gallery settings.

Amanda Huckins is a Nebraskan poet whose work has been published in booklet form as "Trying to End the War" (merrily merrily merrily merrily, 2017) and featured in A Dozen Nothing (adozennothing.com), among other places on paper and online. In her weekday hours, Amanda is an Early Head Start educator and participates in building the brain architecture for social emotional and cognitive development in infants and toddlers. In addition to her paid work, Amanda is a grassroots organizer who works alongside fellow community members to build self-determination, forge non-transactional relationships, and create radical free spaces (such as past DIY spaces The Commons in Lincoln, NE and Media Corp. in Omaha). She is also a letterpress printer who produces posters and other ephemera in her garage print studio, where she teaches typesetting to anyone who wants to learn.

Organized by poet, caregiver, and printmaker Amanda Huckins, Creating More Hours: A Temporal Commons offers humanly-scaled models for combining creative practice, social connection, and mutual caregiving. During a series of workshops designed to expand and reclaim time through cooperative caregiving, the gallery space functions as a "temporal commons" for caregivers and their children. 

The third workshop in the series on Saturday, March 30th from 2pm to 4pm invites participants to learn how to do relief printing with traditional media and easy-to-cut alternatives in order to create postcard sized duplicates of their very own design with printmaker Kelly Seacrest.

Caregivers with children between the ages of 3- and 12-years-old are invited to participate. Please register to attend. This workshop can accommodate ten participants. 

Collaborative care that allows participants to cycle between caregiving and artmaking is an integral part of  this workshop. Workshop participants should expect to share in both caregiving and artmaking activities! 

Generator Space is wheelchair accessible and located on a fairly busy street with a decent amount of traffic. Please use crosswalks for safety. Unmetered street parking is available on Vinton Street, 18th Street, and neighborhood streets to the north and west of the space. 

Generator Series programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

About the Artists:

Kelly Seacrest is an educator and artist. With her husband Peter Stegen, she founded Wild Learning in 2020, a Democratic Self Directed learning place for kids. As a facilitator at Wild Learning, she supports kids' learning by practicing democracy, engaging in conflict resolution, creating curriculum and being playful with them. Kelly also practices her art and loves painting, drawing and printmaking.

Amanda Huckins is a Nebraskan poet whose work has been published in booklet form as "Trying to End the War" (merrily merrily merrily merrily, 2017) and featured in A Dozen Nothing (adozennothing.com), among other places on paper and online. In her weekday hours, Amanda is an Early Head Start educator and participates in building the brain architecture for social emotional and cognitive development in infants and toddlers. In addition to her paid work, Amanda is a grassroots organizer who works alongside fellow community members to build self-determination, forge non-transactional relationships, and create radical free spaces (such as past DIY spaces The Commons in Lincoln, NE and Media Corp. in Omaha). She is also a letterpress printer who produces posters and other ephemera in her garage print studio, where she teaches typesetting to anyone who wants to learn.

Organized by poet, caregiver, and printmaker Amanda Huckins, Creating More Hours: A Temporal Commons offers humanly-scaled models for combining creative practice, social connection, and mutual caregiving. During a series of workshops designed to expand and reclaim time through cooperative caregiving, the gallery space functions as a "temporal commons" for caregivers and their children. 

During the second workshop in the series on Saturday, March 23rd from 2pm - 4pm, musician and therapist Ameen Wahba will help participants use interactive musical technology to explore how touch, connection, and shared experiences can build meaningful relationships.

Caregivers with children between the ages of 3- and 12-years-old are invited to participate. Please register to attend. This workshop can accommodate ten participants. 

Collaborative care that allows participants to cycle between caregiving and artmaking is an integral part of  this workshop. Workshop participants should expect to share in both caregiving and artmaking activities! 

Generator Space is wheelchair accessible and located on a fairly busy street with a decent amount of traffic. Please use crosswalks for safety. Unmetered street parking is available on Vinton Street, 18th Street, and neighborhood streets to the north and west of the space. 

Generator Series programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

About the Artists:

Ameen Wahba (he/him) is an arab-american multidisciplinary artist and psychotherapist living in Omaha, NE - the ancestral homeland of the Omaha, Ponca, Otoe-Missouria and Ioway tribes. He is interested in exploring the liminal space between synthetic and organic modes of being in his art, activism, and therapy practice.

Amanda Huckins is a Nebraskan poet whose work has been published in booklet form as "Trying to End the War" (merrily merrily merrily merrily, 2017) and featured in A Dozen Nothing (adozennothing.com), among other places on paper and online. In her weekday hours, Amanda is an Early Head Start educator and participates in building the brain architecture for social emotional and cognitive development in infants and toddlers. In addition to her paid work, Amanda is a grassroots organizer who works alongside fellow community members to build self-determination, forge non-transactional relationships, and create radical free spaces (such as past DIY spaces The Commons in Lincoln, NE and Media Corp. in Omaha). She is also a letterpress printer who produces posters and other ephemera in her garage print studio, where she teaches typesetting to anyone who wants to learn.

Organized by poet, caregiver, and printmaker Amanda Huckins, Creating More Hours: A Temporal Commons offers humanly-scaled models for combining creative practice, social connection, and mutual caregiving. During a series of workshops designed to expand and reclaim time through cooperative caregiving, the gallery space functions as a "temporal commons" for caregivers and their children. 

The first workshop in the series led by poet Maritza N. Estrada on Saturday, March 16th from 2pm - 4pm invites participants to consider the letter as a container for wonder, possibility, transformation, and healing with poet Maritza N. Estrada and write their own letters to something or someone.

Caregivers with children between the ages of 3- and 12-years-old are invited to participate. Please register to attend. This workshop can accommodate ten participants. 

Collaborative care that allows participants to cycle between caregiving and artmaking is an integral part of  this workshop. Workshop participants should expect to share in both caregiving and artmaking activities! 

Generator Space is wheelchair accessible and located on a fairly busy street with a decent amount of traffic. Please use crosswalks for safety. Unmetered street parking is available on Vinton Street, 18th Street, and neighborhood streets to the north and west of the space. 

Generator Series programming is presented with support from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

From Maritza:

Discussion & Workshop towards the poetic form of the Letter. The letter being the messenger, accomplice, disciple. In this workshop, all walks of life are welcome in this kind, generous, & abundant space of wonder, possibility, transformation, and healing heart-matters. Attendees will look into various forms of letters/study their stories & will create their own letter(s)—reaching towards something or someone. Please be courteous as to how one may enter a space, lived experiences, griefs, etc. What beauty & a gift. To say, here, love. Here is your letter; a part of me is now, here, with you forever & always. Yours.

About the Artists:

Maritza N. Estrada earned her MFA in Creative Writing at Arizona State University. Estrada’s recent poem “Audience” was published in the Academy of American Poets—the nation’s leading champion of American poets and poetry. Born in Toppenish, Washington to Mexican parents, she calls Phoenix, Mexico City, and Paris, home. ¡Liberar Palestina!

Amanda Huckins is a Nebraskan poet whose work has been published in booklet form as "Trying to End the War" (merrily merrily merrily merrily, 2017) and featured in A Dozen Nothing (adozennothing.com), among other places on paper and online. In her weekday hours, Amanda is an Early Head Start educator and participates in building the brain architecture for social emotional and cognitive development in infants and toddlers. In addition to her paid work, Amanda is a grassroots organizer who works alongside fellow community members to build self-determination, forge non-transactional relationships, and create radical free spaces (such as past DIY spaces The Commons in Lincoln, NE and Media Corp. in Omaha). She is also a letterpress printer who produces posters and other ephemera in her garage print studio, where she teaches typesetting to anyone who wants to learn.