Amplify Arts, formerly known as the Omaha Creative Institute, invites you to their 2018 Grant Recipient Exhibition on Friday December 14th.
Over the last decade, OCI has supported and promoted the Omaha arts scene by providing financial and resource assistance to artists, exhibiting work and giving back to the community in the form of events and workshops, and more.
Public Project Grants and Unrestricted Artist Grants are one of the most important methods of assistance. The public can view this year’s grant recipients’ work, converse with the artists about their work and their other contributions, and what the grants mean to them and their communities. They include:
An award-winning playwright, Marie Amthor-Schuett’s works have been featured in the Great Plains Theater Conference, the Dubuque Fine Arts Players One Act Play Festival and others. She is an Omaha Community Playhouse 2018/2019 Directing Fellow, and in 2017 won the Theater Arts Guild Outstanding New Script award for L’Chaim.
Angie Seykora is a visual artist well known for her labor-intensive assemblages that examine relationships between manufacturing, culture and society. She is a 2016 recipient of the Nebraska Arts Council’s Distinguished Individual Artist Fellowship award. She teaches sculpture at Creighton University, and is involved in several community- based youth educational and mentoring programs.
Artist and educator Amanda Smith exhibits nationally and internationally and has been awarded residencies and fellowships in Iceland, Nebraska and Puget Sound, among others. Her colorful, abstract work recently has evolved to revisiting past paintings in the form of quilts.
The Umoja Choir is the brainchild of East African immigrants Dieudonne Manirakiza and Eric Esron. First started as a creative outlet for children of Burundi refugees, it has now developed into a creative outlet open to all ages. The Umoja Choir (“umoja” is Swahili for unity) has performed a Tiny Desk concert in Washington D.C. TedxOmaha, provided backing vocals for The Mynabirds and is currently working toward their first album.
Only recently established in April of this year, The Study venue consists of two workspaces, collectively supported by an ever-changing group of creative artists and entrepreneurs, building a more vibrant city through community minded art, projects, and events. Since its creation, it has become a center for collaborative projectsinvolving artists, community members, business owners, and other stakeholders in the North 24thStreet Corridor.
The new Amplify Arts is located at the same Little Bohemia address, 1419 S. 13thStreet. The opening reception for the artists is December 14th, from 6PM to 8PM. Further information can be found on their new website, amplifyarts.org. The exhibition runs through January 11, 2019.