We've innovated how the Certified Creative Districts of Nebraska's NAC program can collect and showcase District details both for global arts and humanities engagement with a local focus, as well as transform how data-collection for grants and fiscal management can be done. We are A Stage Reborn™, a public benefit arts charity, and our mission is making arts more accessible.

Our project provides a Creative Commons template website and mini-app for municipal-charitable partnerships seeking community revitalization by connecting local data and tourism engagement to a globally reaching interactive visual app experience that's necessary to attract a broad reach for community expansion, and most importantly, gather the information required by private and public grant programs this mini-app can makes simple and free and cities.

I don't know if there's any charities with municipal partners building solutions too but building this will contribute to making arts more accessible, which is our whole purpose.

A continual challenge is proving the humanities of arts and culture are inherently tied to economic development. I was approached by the City of Minatare in 2024 to help solve challenges of bringing back 1000+ people to the population while also revitalizing their downtown. The city itself has wonderful history and resilience through the Great Depression era even, but unfortunately is often overlooked for support even by the State as the Lake Minatare recreation area north of the city receives more attention. The Lake is State-owned so while it puts Minatare on the map somewhat, it does less to actually aid the city which continues to struggle against population decline.

Local efforts remain difficult for the community as the larger nearby rural cities have and continue to receive the lion's share of all resources- financial, technological, communal, and even governmental.

To do our part in supporting Minatare, we have partnered with the city directly to administer their certified Creative District, which is looking to develop around Main Street and the public schools. The Nebraska Arts Council, which oversees the program, is a state-led agency supporting arts and economic development through promotion, grant funding, and more. Certification will open doors to additional tourism, funding, and support the city truly needs and deserves.

A Stage Reborn™ received a grant from The Sherwood Foundation to faciilitate this start, and so we have committed $10,000 to the development of the Creative District already. The district will still need continue to seek support to help the public (e.g., you!) and additional funding programs to fix infrastructure needs and grow. For example, there are many "VAD" (vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated) properties both private and municipal, including the community center, that need in the 5 and 6 figure range budgets to rehabilitate to be usable or available to the public once again. There are streets and sidewalks including park areas needing TLC. We have a whole district to build in tandem with rebuilding in the city, and it's going to be important to both help connect everyone and facilitate support so even a small city can be competitive locally and even present globally.

We're also doing all of this completely free for the city. We just want to make a public, and artful, good. If we get the award proceeds are being used towards getting revitalization results faster and not a prize for pockets. (EIN: 82-2040383)

Minatare is only the beginning, and if we win this Base Batches the funds be able to help us with projects like restoring and re-opening the community room in Minatare, providing the tech to also use this mini-app in person at places like the public library, and more bringing arts and economic development just as full circle as off-chain communities and on-chain connection for good. We hope that this is successful in a way that we can onboard the 34 and growing Creative Districts in Nebraska and maybe even beyond our borders after that!

So what do you say, do you want to help make arts more accessible together with us, for everyone? We've giving the world a way to explore and support creativity one city at a time, and every city's creative power a way to get onchain and online!