Public Art
Public Art makes creative work visible and accessible in the rhythms of daily life. We partner with artists, nonprofits, developers, businesses, and community stakeholders to develop site-responsive, context-driven public art projects that help create spaces where people feel inspired to live, work, and stay.
Fellowship
Amplify’s Fellowship supports artists working outside conventional art spaces to investigate the histories, traditions, and ecologies that shape our region. Rooted in an understanding of place as dynamic and contested, the fellowship positions artistic inquiry as a vital method for examining our present moment.
Publishing
Our Publishing program attends to the specific histories, ecologies, and cultural knowledge of our region while remaining connected to broader national and global conversations. Alternate Currents, Amplify’s imprint, supports and circulates inquiry-driven work, rooted in creative research, that affirms publishing as a site of care, experimentation, and learning.
Incubator
Amplify’s Incubator dedicates attention and resources to systems-level work that takes time. Incubator initiatives are grounded in the belief that meaningful, long-term impact requires thoughtful analysis and sustained inquiry to measure, interpret, and communicate how arts and culture enhance individual well-being, community vibrancy, and healthy economies.
We work to promote
Arts and culture as essential:
Rather than a luxury commodity, we position arts and culture as a vital public good that strengthens civic life and a shared sense of belonging. When arts and culture are valued and supported as essential to our collective well-being and resilience, their capacity to build empathy and understanding across ideological differences resonates more fully.
Exploration over expectation:
Through our programs and partnerships, we create conditions for exploration, experimentation, and creative risk-taking. We champion inquiry over predetermined outcomes, encouraging artists to pursue questions, ideas, and processes that deepen understanding, foster connection, and expand our collective capacity to imagine change.
Cross-sector collaboration:
We believe arts and culture are a public good that strengthens civic life, resilience, and a shared sense of belonging. Through that lens, we collaborate with civic, nonprofit, and private-sector partners who recognize the value of creativity in shaping thriving places. Together, we explore new possibilities for community development, public life, and cultural vitality while advocating for a region where artists can flourish and where people feel inspired to live, work, and stay.
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Zoella Sneed | Development
Zoella (she/her) is an arts leader, multidisciplinary theatre artist, and educator dedicated to building stronger creative communities through equitable access to the arts. She brings experience in nonprofit development, fundraising, grant writing, donor engagement, arts advocacy, and arts administration, with a passion for supporting artists and strengthening organizations that invest in creative communities.
As an active theatre artist in the Omaha community, Zoella understands firsthand the needs of working artists and believes in creating spaces where creativity, collaboration, and belonging can flourish. Her work is rooted in fostering meaningful connections, championing inclusive artistic practices, and helping artists access the resources they need to thrive.
Zoella is thrilled to bring her passion for nonprofit development and fundraising to Amplify Arts, helping cultivate the relationships and resources that make bold artistic work possible. She looks forward to connecting with supporters, building meaningful partnerships, and advancing opportunities that empower Nebraska artists and strengthen the region’s vibrant creative community.
Contact Zoella: zoella@amplifyarts.org
Amy Cherko | Public Art
Amy is a life-long Omahan, proud and passionate about our arts and culture communities. She is a biologist, project manager, and compassionate communicator who believes joy should be centered in the everyday. Before joining Amplify, Amy worked in environmental consulting, supporting a wide range of natural resources projects which shaped her appreciation of vast spaces, the kindness and care of community, and the importance of interdisciplinary connections.
Contact Amy: amy@amplifyarts.org
Melissa Wurth | Operations
Melissa is a fierce advocate of arts and culture as a human right. She has championed Omaha’s creative community in her previous roles as Executive Director of Omaha Girls Rock and an educator in Westside Community Schools. She believes creative organizing that begins at the grassroots level opens pathways to collaboration and meaningful change. Her dedication to continually examining the ways in which asymmetries of power, belonging, and justice shape nonprofit operations fully informs her approach to implementing organizational policy that cultivates a human-centered work environment at Amplify.
Contact Melissa: melissa@amplifyarts.org
Lauren Martin | Partnerships
Lauren has devoted her career to building, developing, and activating organizations that enhance our region. Most recently, in her role as Executive Director of Maha Festival, Lauren worked to support dynamic programming that meaningfully connected people from near and far with Omaha’s creative communities. Her role at Maha – as well as previous roles at the Omaha Community Foundation, Omaha Performing Arts, Hear Nebraska, Saddle Creek Records, and more – helped her understand the systems and structures that support our community’s cultural resources and Omaha’s potential as a place where artists can live, work, and find meaningful support.
Contact Lauren: lauren@amplifyarts.org
Peter Fankhauser | Programs
Peter Fankhauser is an artist and educator who believes creative practice is a powerful conduit for community building, collaboration, and co-liberation. Before joining the Amplify team, he held posts at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel in Los Angeles, the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, and The City University of New York, where he also received an MFA in interdisciplinary studio practice. In addition to his work at Amplify, Peter teaches courses in Photography and Visual Literacy at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. His own creative research embraces interspecies kinships, queer ecologies, and unsettled histories to examine the landscape of the American Midwest and shifting notions of the rural.
Contact Peter: peter@amplifyarts.org
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Amplify is a democratically led organization that distributes leadership and decision-making processes across the organization. Our program participants, community advisory group, staff, and board collectively influence organizational decisions. This commitment to accountability and transparency guides our internal work and reflects the values we seek to advance beyond our organization. Click here to read more about shared decision-making at Amplify.
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Community Advisory Group
Laghe Andrews
Executive Producer/ Writer/ Director, LaGhe Music EntertainmentCorson Androski
Artist and ResearcherCaitlin Cass
Cartoonist & Artist, Assistant Professor at University of Nebraska OmahaKarin Campbell
Phil Willson Curator of Contemporary Art, Joslyn Art MuseumJoy Cotton
ArtistMaritza N. Estrada
PoetAbby Fogle-Erickson
Community Experience + Engagement Manger, Bemis Center for Contemporary ArtsErin Foley
Vice President of Finance & Operations, Omaha Children’s MuseumSara Jacobsen
Designer and ResearcherGabriela Hernández Medina
ArtistPenny Molesso
Artist and EducatorKelsey Noecker
Artist, Philanthropist, and Investor
Alex O’Hanlon
Engagement Coordinator, One OmahaBarbara Robins, PhD
Associate Professor, University of Nebraska at OmahaJessica Scheuerman
Founder, Livable OmahaSirisha Sualy
Strategic Nonprofit and Corporate Philanthropy LeaderCorinne Wardian
Community Manager, CatalystCindy Weil
Artist
Board
Justin Alexander
Exhibit Technician, Kiewit LuminariumAng Bennett
Artist, Communications Strategist, I Be Black Girl
Tess Houser
Program Associate, The Susan Thompson Buffett FoundationAmanda Q. Kephart
Strategic Director, Programs & Experience, Film StreamsAspen Monet Laboy
Artist and PoetLauren Simpson
Artist
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