The first installment of the Alternate Currents lunch-time conversation series brings together Film Streams Executive Director Rachel Jacobson, Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce Senior Director of Talent and Workforce Sarah Moylan, and 2018 Amplify Arts Artist Support Grant Recipient Angie Seykora for a candid discussion about cultivating Omaha’s cultural assets to develop a scalable, inclusive, and equitable arts economy.

Bring lunch, join the conversation, and help us get this series started on the right foot. This event is free and open to the public, but please RSVP so we can plan ahead.

RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/panel-discussion-arts-economic-growth-tickets-67554059009

11:30am - 12:00pm // Arrive & Eat
12:00pm - 1:00pm // Panel Discussion

In 2015, creative industries pumped over $760 billion into the US economy. That’s 4.2 percent of the GDP and 4.9 million workers, who earned $372 billion in total compensation. The arts trended positively between 2012 and 2015 with an average growth rate of 2.6 percent, slightly higher than 2.4 percent for the nation’s overall economy (National Endowment for the Arts). Between 2014 and 2015, the growth rate was 4.9 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars. Yet city, state, and national funding for arts education and programs to support the future of that growth is still hotly contested. Why do we have trouble connecting the dots between the arts and economic growth? Why are arts economies seen as perpetually precarious, viewed through a lens of scarcity rather than possibility?

Alternate Currents opens space for conversation, ideation, and action around national and international discussions in the arts that have a profound impact at the local level. Alternate Currents exists both on- and off-line in the form of a dedicated online resource and lunch-time conversation series.

You can read up on the panel topic with the online resources found on the Alternate Currents blog page: www.amplifyarts.org/alternate-currents