2026 Program Update
At Amplify, we believe the strongest organizations continue to evolve alongside the communities they serve. This summer, we’re excited to launch an updated program framework that brings together years of learning, experimentation, and collaboration into four interconnected program areas: Fellowship, Public Art, Publishing, and Amplify’s Incubator.
This evolution is rooted in our mission to build communities where arts and culture are valued as essential to how we belong, relate, and collectively imagine what's possible. It reflects a natural progression of the ideas and initiatives that have shaped Amplify Arts over the last several years. As our work has expanded, so has our understanding of how artists, organizers, and cultural workers can be supported in ways that encourage exploration and deepen an understanding of arts and culture as a core public good.
Our Fellowship program brings together three longstanding artist support initiatives (Artist Grants, Generator Series, and the Alternate Currents Cohort) into a unified platform for interdisciplinary creative practice and collective learning. A combination of these programs, the Fellowship offers artists greater flexibility, sustained support, and opportunities to investigate the civic histories, cultural traditions, and living ecologies that shape our region. It reflects our belief that artists do their most meaningful work when they have the freedom to pursue curiosity, embrace uncertainty, and develop ideas over time.
Another important milestone is the creation of Public Art as a standalone program. Over the past several years, public art projects have grown to constitute a significant chunk of our work. Establishing Public Art as a dedicated program allows us to deepen cross-sector partnerships, support ambitious commissions, and create opportunities for artists to engage directly with the civic life of our communities.
Likewise, the Alternate Currents blog has evolved into a dedicated Publishing program. In addition to continuing the blog, this new program will produce an annual journal and artist books that amplify regional voices, creative research, and critical dialogue. By investing in independent publishing, we hope to strengthen the exchange of ideas while expanding the visibility of artists and cultural thinkers working throughout our region.
The conversations that began through our Alternate Currents discussion series will continue and expand even further. Our events will include year-round panel discussions, public conversations, performances, and an annual symposium. These gatherings will continue to bring together artists, researchers, civic leaders, designers, and community members to explore our present moment and imagine new possibilities across disciplines.
Finally, our Incubator program will house our work focused on research, learning, and systems change. This work furthers data-driven research and arts-forward advocacy that centers the role of arts and culture in public life. By generating knowledge, cultivating partnerships, and advancing policy conversations, our incubator initiatives help create the conditions for a thriving cultural ecosystem that makes Omaha a place where people feel inspired to live, work, and stay.
Together, these program areas form a more connected and responsive framework for Amplify’s future. They reflect our commitment to positioning arts and culture as essential public goods, supporting exploration over expectation, and building meaningful partnerships across sectors. Most importantly, they position Amplify to better support the artists, organizers, and cultural workers whose ideas, creativity, and leadership investigate our present while opening pathways toward more just, vibrant, and imaginative futures.
Amplify’s programming is made possible with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Nebraska Arts Council, and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.