{"id":129725,"date":"2026-01-23T22:41:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T22:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/129725\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T22:41:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T22:41:21","slug":"next-town-hall-jan-29-to-address-arts-and-culture-in-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/129725\/","title":{"rendered":"Next town hall Jan. 29 to address arts and culture in the future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Alliance for the Arts\u2019 Jan. 29 Arts &amp; Culture Town Hall at FGCU will discuss five priority areas shaping the future of arts and culture in Southwest Florida:<\/p>\n<p>Access to the artsCommunity collaborationArt educationArtist empowerment Special projects<\/p>\n<p>The 10 a.m. event will feature a panel discussion, Creative Career Showcase and an opening conversation titled &#8220;What is Advocacy?&#8221; during which Alliance for the Arts Executive Director Neil Volz, FGCU Sr. Director of Experiential Learning and Career Development Jessica Rhea, and FGCU student Macy Noll will discuss how and why they got involved in advocating for the arts.<\/p>\n<p>The FGCU Bower School of Music &amp; the Arts is located at 10501 FGCU Blvd S, Fort Myers, FL 33965. <\/p>\n<p>Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for networking and social time, with the town hall beginning at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Alliance for the Arts Executive Director Neil Volz.\"  width=\"880\" height=\"1103\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769208080_495_.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Courtesy of Alliance for the Arts<\/p>\n<p>\/<\/p>\n<p>Alliance for the Arts<\/p>\n<p>Alliance for the Arts Executive Director Neil Volz <\/p>\n<p>MORE INFORMATION:<\/p>\n<p>The Jan. 29 Arts &amp; Culture Town Hall is the third installment of the Alliance\u2019s Arts &amp; Culture Town Hall series. The first was held at the Alliance, with the second taking place at the Collaboratory.<\/p>\n<p>This third installment marks a new collaboration with Florida Gulf Coast University.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis town hall is about turning conversation into collaboration,\u201d said the Alliance for the Arts\u2019 Director Neil Volz. \u201cBy bringing together leaders, artists, and advocates from across sectors, we\u2019re building the foundation for long-term growth and sustainability in our arts community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The event will open with the \u201cWhat Is Advocacy\u201d roundtable discussion by Volz, Rhea and Noll.<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Fifth year FGCU art and biology major and muralist Macy Noll.\"  width=\"880\" height=\"1068\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769208081_615_.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Courtesy of FGCU Bower School of Music and the Arts<\/p>\n<p>\/<\/p>\n<p>FGCU Bower School of Music and the Arts. <\/p>\n<p>Fifth year FGCU art and biology major and muralist Macy Noll. <\/p>\n<p>Noll is currently installing a mural titled \u201cKnowledge in Motion\u201d adjacent to the Information Desk in the Wilson G. Bradshaw Library at FGCU. [For more, read\/listen to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wgcu.org\/arts-and-culture\/2026-01-20\/fifth-year-fgcu-student-macy-noll-installing-knowledge-in-motion-mural-in-wilson-g-bradshaw-library\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">&#8220;Fifth-year FGCU student Macy Noll installing &#8216;Knowledge in Motion&#8217; mural in campus library.&#8221;<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"United Arts Collier Executive Director Elysia Dawn.\"  width=\"880\" height=\"883\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769208081_29_.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Courtesy of United Arts Collier<\/p>\n<p>\/<\/p>\n<p>United Arts Collier<\/p>\n<p>United Arts Collier Executive Director Elysia Dawn.<\/p>\n<p>The panel discussion will feature four arts leaders driving change and innovation across the region:<\/p>\n<p>Elysia Dawn, executive director, United Arts CollierDr. Skip Pardee, Collier County Public Schools coordinator of fine artsAlyona Ushe, Arts Bonita executive directorCaleb Neff, Juniper recording studio<\/p>\n<p>WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall will moderate the panel discussion.<\/p>\n<p>The panel discussion will be followed by a community Q&amp;A session and networking opportunity, giving attendees a platform to share insights, ideas, and collaborative visions for the region\u2019s creative future.<\/p>\n<p>Following the panel discussion and Q&amp;A, attendees are invited to participate in the Creative Career Showcase. Lunch will be provided, and arts organizations will have the opportunity to connect with FGCU students studying art, music, theater and related disciplines. Area arts organizations are encouraged to share their missions, programs and professional pathways, offering students insight into career possibilities within the arts.<\/p>\n<p>The showcase is designed to foster meaningful connections that can develop into internships, mentorships and long-term career opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>This event is free and open to the public. Everyone is encouraged to attend, whether an artist, student, educator, business leader, or passionate supporter of the arts.<br \/>For more information and to RSVP, visit ArtInLee.org.<\/p>\n<p>For full disclosure, FGCU holds the broadcast license for WGCU. WGCU is a member-supported service of FGCU.<\/p>\n<p>Support for WGCU\u2019s arts &amp; culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Alliance for the Arts\u2019 Jan. 29 Arts &amp; Culture Town Hall at FGCU will discuss five priority&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":{"0":"post-129725","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-cape-coral","9":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","10":"tag-cape-coral-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}