OUR MISSION
Lincoln Calling is a non-profit organization that advances music, art, and education through immersive cultural experiences and creative community activation.
OUR VISION
To foster participation in and support of artistic expression, diverse education, and civic responsibility, through immersive festivals and innovative programming.
Our goal is to work alongside many community partners that share in our efforts to put Lincoln, Nebraska, “on the map”; Making Nebraska a globally recognized cultural destination supports the recruitment and retention of a vibrant and diverse workforce representative of the communities we aim to serve.
How we have been changing
× Lincoln Calling has made diversity in artistic and educational programming our top priority for the past five years.
× Lincoln Calling changed the structure of the organization, now a 501c3. We are a decentralized team, composed of many collaborators and a board. LC is more representative of and better responding to the community we serve.
× Lincoln Calling has made some progress toward achieving a more diverse board and staff, but there is much work left to do.
× Though our organization has decentralized power and we have achieved greater diversity by some measures, LC is still a predominantly white organization. As such, we acknowledge that our collective inherent biases cause harm to communities of color and minoritized communities. We are committed to taking action to address our blindspots and to earnestly engage in harm reduction.
Actions we are taking to reduce harm and increase equity
× We formed an Equity, Diversity & Inclusion committee in 2020. These board & staff members are tasked with:
- Authoring, implementing and evaluating an Equity, Diversity & Inclusion plan.
- Planning anti-bias, anti-racism trainings for staff, board, and volunteers.
- Overseeing artistic and educational programming to ensure inclusive and equitable curating.
× We’re developing an equity plan that will function as the core of our 3-year strategic plan.
Our plan will formalize the ways in which we ensure the equitable distribution of Lincoln Calling resources. It will prioritize recruitment, cultivation, and retention of staff & board members from BIPOC and other minoritized communities. And it will chart a path towards new leadership more representative of the Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Disabled, LGBTQIA2S communities we serve.
Our History
Lincoln Calling is an annual, non-profit music and arts festival that has transformed the streets of downtown Lincoln, Nebraska, since 2004. For 17 years it’s been a three-day celebration of music, art, and education.
Lincoln Calling thrives on featuring bands just before they break, while showcasing a multitude of genres, artists, and artistic disciplines along the way. Lincoln Calling is also dedicated to free, accessible community education that explores the intersection of art and innovation, entrepreneurship, civic engagement, sustainability, and wellness; with a focus to not only inform attendees but to create interactive opportunities to inspire and encourage future engagement, and generate community action.
Over the past 5 years we have made diversity in artistic and educational programming our top priority. Our festival now boasts 50/50 representation between male and female artists. at a time when, on average, only 15% of performers at national music festivals are women.
Since 2016, 60% of our headliners represent Black, Indegenous, POC and LGBTQ+ communities. And while Lincoln Calling has varied slightly in length and venue participation in its lifetime, in recent years it has consistently offered roughly 100 performances across the three-day weekend.
From acts like Lion Babe, Blackbelt Eagle Scout, Leikeli 47, and Madame Gandhi to conversations with public figures such as Ana Maria Archilla, Dominique Morgan, and Bennie Shobe, Lincoln Calling has highlighted some of the country and state’s most exciting, emerging artists, educators, activists, and innovators.
It has been within our mission since day one to draw a bridge for some of Nebraska’s most talented artists and educators to share the stage with national acts.
It is our hope to help aid in their efforts to not only showcase their talents and build their fanbase, but to give them opportunities to further their experiences that will propel them to reach their professional goals.
Past Headliners
2019
lee fields & the expressions • soccer mommy • cautious clay • a tribe called red • tt the artist • charly bliss • taylor mcferrin • fat tony • zuzuka poderosa • bad bad hats • samia • squirrel flower
2018
japanese breakfast • waxahatchee • joey dosik • parquet courts • ron gallo • fantastic negrito • lion babe • leikeli47 • ought • ohmme • reyna • the nude party
2017
charli xcx • best coast • angel olsen • beach fossils • frankie cosmos • sandy (alex G) • pup • el ten eleven • john moreland • cupcakke • palehouse
2016
domo genesis • real estate • cloud nothings • twin peaks • alan kingdom • ceremony • gosh pith • hide • a giant dog • screaming females
2015
desert noises • head of femur • bandit sound • westside proletariat • josh hoyer and soul colossal • freakabout • universe contest
2014
sidewalk chalk • bailiff • deerpeople • the kickback • white mystery
2013
future islands • boy • jeremy messersmith • henhouse prowlers • hot buttered rum • allie kral of cormeal
2012
wolfgang gartner • laetitia sadier of stereolab • ivan and alyosha • author and punisher • desert noises • hume
2011
larry and his flask • the kickback • lionize • gauntlet hair • uuvvwwz • the photo atlas
2010
roger clyne and the peacemakers • sea wolf • the hood internet • those darlins • the love language • the flatliners
2009
sleepy sun • the rosewood thieves • frontier ruckus • flowers forever • broken spindles
2008
pattern is movement • the killigans • the machete archive • tatsuya nakatani • cameron mcgill and what army
2007
head of femur • gito gito hustler • flobots • somasphere
2006
criteria • neva dinova • maritime • heiruspecs • the prids • 56 hope road
2005
tilly and the wall • orenda fink • david dondero • railbenders • legendary shake shakers
2004
for against • shanti groove • falconfive-0 • ad aspera per aspera • the architects
