Foundry Magazine | Summer 2019

summer 2019

lincoln, ne

magazine

building art synergy in lincoln

LINCOLN'S GREEN INITIATIVE

PRESERVING THE PAST, BUILDING THE FUTURE

Teaming up to create an art extravaganza in downtown Lincoln.

A new proactive plan focusing on resiliency and preparedness.

How the Nebraska Historical Society's rebrand has made history more accessible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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staff Executive Director Randy Hawthorne Graphic Designer Jordan Geisert Editor Olivia Layne Content Strategists Parker Reil Elizabeth Phillips Chief Operating Officer Jesse Bergman

LINCOLN'S green initiative A Proactive Change

by Elizabeth Phillips

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building art synergy in lincoln Lincoln Arts Festival & Lincoln Calling

by Parker Reil

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THE FOUndry MEMBER SPOTLIGHT The Kindler Hotel

by Olivia Layne

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PRESERVING THE PAST, BUILDING THE FUTURE Learn about the History Nebraska rebrand.

by Elizabeth Phillips

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LEADING THE GOOD LIFE Our quarterly profile of Lincoln's difference makers.

by Olivia Layne

letter from the publisher Dear Reader, What did you do this summer? To welcome the students back for the school year, we encouraged them to open up a fresh box of crayons and illustrate their summer highlights. Hopefully you’ve seen a couple of them on Instagram.

If I was asked to draw what The Foundry did this summer, the illustration would probably involve one of the most significant moves we’ve made; promoting Jesse Bergman to Chief Operating Officer. This promotion is primarily to keep me in line. I didn’t know this until recently, but my staff call themselves “Randy Wranglers.” So I guess Jesse is really the CRW (Chief Randy Wrangler).

Jesse’s new role is not only needed, but is refreshing to our operation. I can see the details, I just don’t always want to execute the details. So he’s been spending the last few weeks really digging in, and I am confident his work will make our organization soar.

This means we'll get to give more resources back to our nonprofit community, which is our #1 driving force.

The Foundry community continues to grow as more people learn about our unique space.

The Lincoln Buddy Check is one of our newest groups to regularly meet in the shop. This group of Veterans meets every month as a social gathering dedicated to eliminating Veteran suicide.

I am so proud to provide a place where all kinds of community members gather. The Foundry is a safe place welcome to all. Not only do I love witnessing the connections being made, I love being an incubator in making those connections happen.

The offer always stands to feel free to reach out to me for a beverage of your choice any time. Have an amazing fall and come join us for a tailgate soon.

RANDY HAWTHORNE Executive Director, The Foundry

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s ' n l o c n i L n e e Gr e v i t a i Init e v i t c a o r P A e g n Cha

By Elizabeth Phillips Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird was elected this May, ready to tackle the problem on everyone’s minds ― saving the environment. Gaylor Baird has started taking steps toward a new and improved green initiative, and she wants our county (and state) to be prepared for future destructive weather. Part of that green initiative is to create an environment-saving task force. This group is focusing on resiliency and being prepared for potential emergencies before they happen ― being proactive instead of reactionary.

Gaylor Baird wants what’s best for this city and everyone in it, especially in the aftermath of the historic flooding this past March. With millions of dollars in damages affecting Nebraskans across the state, these floods have made many people start to prioritize climate issues, and seek change.

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The goal is to create “common sense strategies,” building off of Lincoln’s current climate plan. The current plan is called LEAP, Lincoln’s Environmental Action Plan. This plan from Mayor Beutler’s terms focused on recycling, making sure our water and air remain clean, preserving our natural resources, and reducing the emissions that harm our environment. Beutler came from a farm and was taught to treat the it with respect. He wanted to do the same for the city. Mayor Gaylor Baird wants to enhance that plan one step further.

In hopes of promoting citizen input, Gaylor Baird will appoint task force members from a wide variety of backgrounds. The task force will be made up of nine members who will advise the City Council and the County Board, and they’re appointed for six-year, staggered terms.

Research should always be the first step in a plan for a city, and Gaylor Baird has decided to do exactly that. The first stage of Gaylor Baird’s action plan consists of gathering information. This task force will start to research climate hazards, demographics and emergency preparedness. Since this task force is all about being prepared in the face of severe weather it’s important for the people in charge of this task force to know exactly what they need to be prepared for.

The next stage is a collective planning process involving the citizens in the county. She wants to make sure that the people have a voice concerning what goes on in their community. She really seems to care about the community and what happens to the people in this town. That’s a characteristic that is really important with everything that she is trying to accomplish.

The Lincoln Electric System, or LES, has quite a bit of influence over energy consumption in Lincoln.

Because of that, the mayor's task force wants to include them in the process of creating change as well.

LES has a nine-member board that’s in charge of making decisions involving the company, and Gaylor Baird wants this board to have a say when it comes to what happens in Lincoln.

On July 27th, LES held an event called The Sustainable Living Festival. It focused on “bringing us together with community partners in downtown Lincoln.” People gathered in the Railyard as LES showed them different, easy ways to add “green” ideas into their everyday lives. The event was full of fun activities like an interactive house where you could have the opportunity to learn about

the best energy systems that go into a house, electric vehicles, a map of Lincoln’s bike system and the UNL bee lab ― which focuses on research and understanding the stressors of what impacts bee’s health. Along with these activities, LES showed examples of how they use renewable energy to power Lincoln, showing how easy it is to make your life a little more green.

So far, there have been four people appointed to the task force. Two of them are community members, Shams Al-Brody and Cindy Ryman Yost. Al-Brody is a professor at UNL in the College of Education and Human Services. Ryman Yost is nonprofit specialist, who has been working for CEDARS. And the other two are serving on the LES board, Karen Griffin and David Spinar.

Griffin is a geologist with over 25 years of experience in her field, currently working at Olsson. Spinar is currently working at RBC wealth management.

With a wide variety of backgrounds and professions, the task force is shaping up to have some great, diverse perspectives. All four people seem to be qualified in their own field and want to make Nebraska a safe and ideal place to live.

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LINCOLN ARTS FESTIVAL

BUILDING ART SYNERGY IN LINCOLN

by Parker Reil

Lincoln Calling started out in 2004 as a two day festival at Knickerbockers, an old “O� Street staple, with only twenty local bands. Since 2009, the festival has made conscious leaps and strides in terms of growing the event without getting too ahead of the curve.

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LINCOLN CALLING

In the heart of downtown Lincoln, the Lincoln Arts Festival and Lincoln Calling have teamed up to create an art extravaganza. The Lincoln Arts Festival will have a larger impact footprint as it moves to the non-official arts district for the first time. The festival will have more artists, music, performers and interactive art activities than ever before. Lincoln Calling is a local music festival that focuses on bringing together both local and national artists. Each artist will play and give educational workshops about entrepreneurship, self-care, wellness, and general music workshops.

Spencer Munson, Lincoln Calling’s director, is thankful for the partnerships and experiences he’s gained throughout the years.

“It’s been good in a lot of ways that I've had great partners to help me, that it’s grown fairly slowly so we can learn as we go," Munson said. "We’re not making big leaps and big mistakes, we’re making small leaps and small mistakes.”

Munson joined Lincoln Calling making fliers and doing booking, then became more involved in the fifth year of the festival’s existence. After switching to a nonprofit model, Munson and the team decided to bring about educational programming for its attendees.

speaks highly of SouthPointe but is excited about the location change.

“We took a huge footprint of [SouthPointe’s] parking which made it difficult for them," said Gagner. "At the same time, we were kind of bursting at the seams just to house the artists that we have, which meant that we didn’t have space to offer other kinds of festival opportunities.”

Gagner and the rest of the Arts Council had worked with Munson before, and after thinking about a location change, the answer was clear.

The music festival is known for creating a safe space, equal opportunity, and representation within the city for minorities and the LGBTQ+ community.

“We’ve got a festival happening downtown already, why don’t we work with them, co-locate, bring everyone down here?" said Gagner. "Part of it was about synergy of the arts [and] downtown is Lincoln’s festival space.

So if you’re going to have a festival, why not do it downtown where people expect to go to a festival?”

The Lincoln Arts Festival has been hosted at SouthPointe Mall for 18 years. Troy Gagner, Development Director of the Lincoln Arts Council,

Along with the move came the addition of the other festival opportunities that Gagner didn’t feel like they could handle at SouthPointe.

“We want this to be more than just an art sale,” Gagner said. He calls these new things “festival flare.”

Throughout the festival there are different music groups performing in Tower Square, an improv troupe, a marching band, and even a small parade. The Nebraska History Museum and the Lincoln Children's Museum are partnering together for a Creative Zone where young people and families can participate in interactive art projects.

The Lincoln Symphony is bringing their instrument ‘petting zoo.’ while groups from UNL and Doane are bringing interactive photography based on old film methods and hands on ceramics. The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts will be open to the public and playing student films all weekend.

“We wanted this to turn into not just a sale for the visual arts, but a real celebration for all of the arts," Gagner said.

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THE FOUNDRY MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

THE KINDLER HOTEL

by Olivia Layne You may have noticed the downtown construction scene has been a bit busier lately. The fenced off area on the corner of 11th and “P” Street kept us wondering what new thing was being added to the everchanging landscape of downtown Lincoln.

As soon as the Kindler sign adorned the side of the building, people knew that Lincoln was in for something special.

But, the origin story isn’t the only special thing about The Kindler. Their commitment to legacy and luxury is at the heart of their mission. Part of the building has been in downtown Lincoln for over 100 years and it used to be the Men’s Chamber of Commerce. They preserved the history of the building and restored it to become the ballroom for the hotel.

The story behind the hotel starts with a man named Ken Kindler. Ken was an artist — a metal sculptor — who lived here in Lincoln, and had a daughter named Brook.

Ken passed away in 2014. But, his legacy was far from over. His daughter, Brook, and her husband, Nick, decided they wanted to honor his memory. Although they don’t live in Lincoln, Nick and Brook Castaneda founded this hotel in memory of Brook’s father, calling it The Kindler Hotel. Keeping with their commitment to his legacy, Ken Kindler’s art will be showcased around the hotel.

The art deco style of the 49-room property is sure to catch your eye while strolling around downtown. As the first boutique hotel property in Lincoln, they promise a level of hospitality to keep you sheltered from the bustlings of everyday life and provide that bit of quiet you might be craving.

Since their nearly two-year construction project is coming to a close soon, the Kindler staff will move out of The Foundry and into their own offices in the hotel. They opened in August, just in time to greet the Husker fans who came to Lincoln.

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“I’m going to be sad to leave,” Michelle Lee Venter said. “I love everyone here.

I love people. Everybody has a story to tell. And I’ve made some really, really close friends here and they’ll remain friends.”

Michelle, the Director of Sales for The Kindler Hotel shared how she’ll miss The Foundry community and everything it brings to Lincoln. She wanted to come here in the first place to be among people who care.

“I’ve known Randy for a very long time,” Venter said. “I wanted, of course, to be close to the property, but I know Randy as a person that truly cares for people, cares for the community, and tries to give something back to Lincoln. I admire Randy. And to be amongst a group of really ambitious, nonprofit organizations, I think, is inspiring.”

Although the goodbye is bittersweet, Venter made sure to mention that her connections with The Foundry and Lincoln’s give-back community are far from over.

So I’ll send all my clientele here that need a business space,” Venter said. “But one thing that we are doing as a hotel, from a sustainable standpoint, is every member of the executive committee and some of the other full-time staff will be involved in some type of charitable organization. We’ll all be involved in the community in one way, shape, or form.”

Through years of preparation, The Kindler Hotel is nearly ready to open its doors.

From figuring out how to build off of and preserve a historic building, to creating mouth-watering menus with the help of Olympic ice skater, Brian Boitano, and creating an experience that Lincoln has never seen before, the staff at The Kindler are ready to share their hard work with the people of Lincoln.

“I’m just excited to bring something of this caliber to the city of Lincoln because we’ve never seen it before,” Venter said. “We’re all about the guests and hospitality. We have a beautiful product to offer and it is just so wonderful that the owners invested this much in the midwest.”

“I’m working out an agreement because we don’t have a large business center.

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preserving the past, building the future

by Elizabeth Phillips

The Nebraska Historical Society has worked to preserve the stories and achievements of Nebraskans for years. The history of our great state is held dear in the hearts of many Nebraska-natives, but sometimes it can be hard to get younger generations to show interest in things that happened centuries ago. This is what The Nebraska Historical Society, now known as History Nebraska, is trying to accomplish through their recent rebrand.

The Nebraska Historical Society was founded in 1878. Over their 140 plus years of existence, they’ve seen quite a bit of history in the making, and have adapted along the way. History Nebraska wants to make sure that those who love history, and especially Nebraska history, have access to it. Their rebranding is about making history easier for everyone to learn from and making it available to any person in the community who wants to learn more about Nebraska and how it came to be.

With the Nebraska Historical Society’s previous approach, they started noticing apathy among their clients. People had a positive image of them and what they stood for, but didn’t really know anything about the organization and what they do. They noticed they needed a change.

One major change has been their website. They gave the site a complete face lift, making it much easier to navigate. It now provides events, daily blogs, and a ton of different collections like the newspaper inventory and historic audio recordings, all available like a virtual exhibit. If that’s not enough, they also run a magazine, have several books and handle historical sites across the state.

There are up to 500 historical markers across the state of Nebraska and now you can read up on all of them markers on their website.

After launching their new brand, they got an “overwhelmingly positive” response, according to the Marketing Director of History Nebraska, Chris Goforth. The community has really enjoyed the clean look, and are excited about events and changes that History Nebraska is bringing to the people.

They're hosting an event soon called, “Votes for Women.” It’s a new exhibit at the museum about the suffrage movement. They can't wait to be doing new things, and engaging with the public in a new and exciting way.

Goforth mentioned how he hoped this rebrand will be long lasting, and that it’s “not a brand for just today, but for the next 23 years.”

Their slogan, “Preserving the Past, Building the Future” sums up their goals perfectly. Through providing these important historical stories, they hope that it will empower future generations to be better.

“We collect and preserve,” Goforth said. “We do it so people have the opportunity to learn from the past. We want to build a better future for ourselves and our children. Learning about our history is a key element in moving forward.”

There are four main values that History Nebraska prioritizes: preservation, public service, trust, and excellence ― and they have kept their emphasis on them through the rebrand. The values are at their forefront in the public and internally. “That’s who we are, and that’s who we want to be,” Goforth said.

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by Olivia Layne

Leading the the Good Good Life Life Leading I

f I’m being honest, I was pretty nervous for this interview. I had done my research on her impressive and extensive background. And while I was informed, it did nothing to ease my nerves. I sat in that coffee shop, fidgeting, sipping my coffee and reading my questions over and over until she arrived. Then at 11 a.m. on the dot, I turn to my right and see her coming towards me. Preeta Bansal.

Preeta Bansal My fears instantly melted as she walked over to me with a big smile. She greeted me with a hug saying, “It’s so nice to meet you!” As we got to talking, I was drawn into the conversation more and more. Her magnetic personality and exciting stories made it easy to listen to her for hours.

We talked about a lot, but what stood out most was her love for Lincoln and the community.

“There’s just a vibe here,” Bansal said.

“There’s a ‘Nebraska nice’ attitude which is not talking about yourself, but I feel like there’s so much good that’s happening here.”

Preeta Bansal is a Nebraska native at heart. Her family moved here when she was young, and Lincoln is all she knows as home ― having attended K-12 here. As an East High School grad interested in law, she never expected her career to take off like it did.

“Both my older brother and sister were going into medicine, and I tell people that it was kind of my pathetic form of rebellion to be a lawyer rather than a doctor. That’s about as wild as you could get in my family.”

Bansal said her dad was discouraging her to go into law initially. He was worried about how she would do in a profession where the cultural fit within the power structures can be so important.

“I think he was just concerned. In law, more so than in the sciences, you can be the smartest person, but if you’re not ‘one of the guys,’ you might not be [rewarded],” Bansal said. “As a woman and a minority, how would this work out for me?”

At one point, her dad told her that if she was serious about law, she would have to be the best, and go to Harvard. Saying this in a throwaway way, Bansal said her dad didn’t think she would actually apply and get in to Harvard. This was the beginning of her long, impressive career, taking her across the country and the world.

From Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Bansal worked as a constitutional lawyer and clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court, and later worked in the White House as a “baby lawyer” (in her words).

She also served as the Solicitor General of New York State, helping lead the 600 lawyers of the New York Attorney General’s office, and she became a U.S. diplomat and partner at a major global law firm based in New York City.

“It also happened to be that I went to law school with a guy named Barack Obama.”

They kept in touch over the years through common friends. He reached out to her one day to help out with his Senate campaign in 2004. By 2008, she was leading a part of his Presidential transition team and later became the general counsel and senior policy advisor in the White House.

“That was right at the time when the whole financial crisis started, so the world is kind of falling apart, the world financial system is imploding. For the four years I was there, for the first term, I don’t think I got a full night’s sleep.”

After a whirlwind of a career, she started to evaluate her position in the world and to think about how she wanted to take action. This type of introspection is what led her to become a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and incubate her idea for the Social Emergence Corporation from there. It’s a nonprofit dedicated to empowering communities to self-organize in new ways. She and her MIT colleagues are trying to figure out how can we use technology and human engagement practices to bring people together in new modes of social organization and engagement.

“I was really interested in the ways our systems of governance were being disrupted in this new age of networks and technology. I feel like the current 18th century models of corporate and state governance are being blown apart by technology and networks.”

Though she has had a vast and varied life, there seems to be a common thread connecting it all: service. Serving in the U.S. government, starting her own nonprofit, and now dedicating the majority of her time to serving the community through various advisory

boards, Bansal is a giver at heart. And that’s what brought her back to Nebraska.

“I got to the point where I've worked with the US president, I worked with the US Supreme Court, I worked at the top of global corporations and business. I wanted to take a step back and think about how I could really make a difference in new ways.”

She gave a TED Talk at TEDx Lincoln 2019 with this same message.

“After I left the White House, I was going through a deep re-thinking of the ways I want to show up in the world and the ways in which I wanted to make an impact. My old mindset was if I’m going to do [TED], I’m going to do the mainstage event. But then I started thinking about it and actually, my message is about going from big to small, reconnecting to roots, so Lincoln is the perfect place to do that. I’m happy I did it.”

I think it’s fair to say that Bansal never expected any of this professional success to happen for her. She talked about how each step of her career felt like the best thing she could be doing, how she could do it forever. But new opportunities just kept presenting themselves to her.

“I always thought I was just this nice girl from Nebraska. It’s not like I was trying to make this all happen. For whatever reason, people seemed to want me at the table. But in my mind, it was all about how can I serve the situation I’m in, how can I do my best in the present moment?”

Despite traveling far and wide and meeting with the leaders of the world, Bansal’s heart has always been with the Heartland.

“For me, this is home. I have memories of a very happy childhood and a great sense of community. I think having experienced things at this national and global scale, I started appreciating things on the more human and community scale, and the ways in which you can try and do things in communities like Lincoln. I feel like the transformation of the country is going to come from the inside out, and this is the place to be.”

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