Washington, DC—Jane Chu, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will visit Omaha, Nebraska, on Wednesday, December 16, 2015. This will be her first visit to Nebraska as NEA Chairman. As part of her visit, Chairman Chu will participate in a Town Hall, which is open to the public and hosted by the Nebraska Arts Council. Follow @NEAJaneChu on Twitter for updates and photos on her trip to Nebraska. On the evening of Wednesday, December 16 at 5:00pm, Chairman Chu will take part in a Town Hall, hosted by the Nebraska Arts Council. This event is open to the public and no RSVPs are required. Chairman Chu will give remarks at this event about the NEA’s 50th anniversary and the NEA’s new initiative, Creativity Connects*, and take questions from the audience in a discussion moderated by Suzanne Wise, executive director of the Nebraska Arts Council. Media who wish to attend this event should contact Kalee Olson with the Nebraska Arts Council at kalee.olson@nebraska.gov or 402-595-2122. Chairman Chu will be available for short one-on-one media interviews prior to this event. Media should contact Liz Auclair at auclaire@arts.gov with their interview requests. Chairman Chu will be in town to observe a roundtable discussion with people from Nebraska doing innovative work in the arts, hosted by the Nebraska Arts Council. (This discussion is closed to the public and media.) This roundtable is one of ten taking place across the country, and is part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ Creativity Connects initiative, which Chairman Chu launched this fall as part of the NEA’s 50th anniversary. Creativity Connects will show how the arts contribute to the nation’s creative ecosystem, investigate the ways in which the support systems for the artists are changing, and explore how the arts can connect with other sectors that want and utilize creativity. These roundtables will inform an infrastructure report that will provide an overview of the types of artistic practices and how they’re expanding, and the key resources that artists need in order to produce their best work. It will also contribute to an interactive digital systems graphic that shows the elements of the arts-based creative ecosystem in the United States. More information about Creativity Connects is available here. As part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ 50th anniversary, the NEA is creating a story bank of multimedia content that showcases the impact of the arts. To date, hundreds of people from across the country, including Nebraska, have submitted stories about how the arts and the National Endowment for the Arts have impacted their lives. The NEA has also created a video in collaboration with Nebraska Arts Council that looks at the arts and culture of Nebraska. *Creativity Connects™ is used with permission from Crayola, LLC. Wednesday, December 16, 2015 4:00–4:30pm Media availability. Media who wish to request short one-on-one interviews with Chairman Chu should contact Liz Auclair at auclaire@arts.gov or 202-682-5744. Location:  Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68102

---

5:00–6:00pm Town Hall, open to the public. Media who wish to attend this event should contact Kalee Olson at kalee.olson@nebraska.gov or 402-595-2122 Location: Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68102 Participants:       Jane Chu, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts Suzanne Wise, executive director, Nebraska Arts Council About the National Endowment for the Arts Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts and the agency is celebrating this milestone with events and activities through September 2016. Go to the 50th section at arts.gov to enjoy art stories from around the nation, peruse the Facts & Figures section, and check out the anniversary timeline. About the Nebraska Arts Council The Nebraska Arts Council is an agency of state government that promotes, cultivates and sustains the arts for the people of Nebraska. In doing so, the Nebraska Arts Council provides grants and services to artists, organizations and communities. 

# # #

United States of Arts: Nebraska