Arts advocates to address students, public

 Marjorie Maas of Omaha, director of Nebraskans for the Arts, will speak Monday, Oct. 29. A presentation by Anne Hatch, arts access and folk arts specialist at the Wyoming Arts Council in Cheyenne, will be Monday, Nov. 12. Each session is in Memorial Hall room 129 at 11 a.m. and is open to the public.

Chadron State faculty member Mary Donahue, who team teaches “Without the Arts” with Dr. Sandy Schaefer, said the speakers are an excellent fit for the course, in which students learn about arts advocacy and hands-on digital media skills.

Maas’ organization is the state’s citizen advocacy association for arts-related legislation. She works closely with the Nebraska Arts Council and serves as Nebraska’s captain for arts advocacy through Americans for the Arts as well as a national council member for the State Arts Action Network. Her experience includes owning and operating Palette Promotions, a public relations, marketing, and fundraising consultancy which assisted artistic entities and other clients from the business and nonprofit sectors.

Hatch will discuss the relevance of state arts funding and how state arts agencies have used a variety of techniques to ensure relevancy including the impact of the arts in education, cultural tourism and economic development. She will also discuss how folk arts programs expand an arts agency mission of inclusion and access. Previous to her position in Wyoming, Hatch worked at the Nevada Arts Council and Utah Arts Council. She also has 20 years of experience in public folklore in the American West.