FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2001

Contact:
Lisa Cordes (M-AAA) 816.421.1388
Linda Hughes (NAC) 402.595.2122

Mid-America Arts Alliance Provides Leadership Training
to Nebraska Arts Organizations

Kansas City, MO -- Mid-America Arts Alliance, in partnership with the Nebraska Arts Council, will present Strategic Leadership in a Changing Environment, an intensive three-day seminar for Omaha and Lincoln cultural leaders to gain advanced strategic skills to succeed in a more challenging environment. The seminar, organized for Mid-America Arts Alliance by National Arts Stabilization, will be held March 8-10, 2001, at Embassy Suites Hotel, 555 S. 10th Street, Omaha.

Participants in the seminar include staff and trustees of major cultural organizations from Lincoln and Omaha, including Abendmusik: Lincoln, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Joslyn Art Museum, Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lincoln Arts Council, Lincoln Center for Contemporary Arts, Lincoln Community Playhouse, Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Community Playhouse, Omaha Symphony, Omaha Theatre Company for Young People, and The Third Ear Chamber Players.

This rigorous executive education seminar provides staff and trustees of arts organizations with a framework for understanding how to analyze the competitive environment, identify alternative strategies, and integrate mission and strategy. Since 1997, National Arts Stabilization seminar programs have been presented in numerous communities across the United States, including Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, Boston, and San Francisco.

Terrance Ferguson, chairman of the Nebraska Arts Council, states, "This program is timely and should serve as a catalyst for new and creative thinking among the cultural leadership of Omaha and Lincoln. It is an example of the high level of service that Mid-America Arts Alliance has provided Nebraska artists, arts groups, and audiences for over 25 years."

Kansas City-based Mid-America Arts Alliance is a regional public-private partnership organized in 1972 to ensure access to arts of excellence for people in the mid-America region. Serving as a cultural resource for communities throughout a six-state area, (Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas), Mid-America Arts Alliance operates regional, national, and international programs including ExhibitsUSA, a national traveling exhibition and museum services program, and the Heartland Arts Fund for the performing arts. Throughout its history, one of Mid-America Arts Alliance's primary goals has been to strengthen the capacity of nonprofit arts organizations to survive and thrive.

Support for Mid-America Arts Alliance's presentation of Strategic Leadership in a Changing Environment in Nebraska is provided by Woods Charitable Fund, Peter Kiewit Foundation, Kiewit Companies Foundation, and the Nebraska Arts Council.