The Arts Reign in Omaha, NE
Over the years, Omaha, NE, has become a Midwest hub for the arts, offering everything from community theater and Broadway productions to art museums and so much more. It’s a space where everyone can find their groove or, if they feel inclined, create it.
Take local Jason Kulbel, for example. While he says the region has always had a lot of music lovers, there were not always quality performance spaces. That’s why he built one. In 2007, he opened Slowdown, a live music venue north of downtown.
“Before, we had a good music scene, but the public wasn’t going to shows,” he says. “We didn’t have a lot of bands that wanted to play here because they were underwhelmed by the attendance. But now, there are three or four shows on the same night.”
Slowdown and another popular venue called The Waiting Room Lounge are known for rock concerts that draw an Indie crowd. Plus, funky pubs, such as The Down Under Lounge, host local acts on a much smaller stage.
Omaha, NE, Provides a Mature Performing Arts Scene
While the region’s live music offerings capture many a heart in Omaha, NE, several other facets have been cultivated over the years to form its arts scene.
From the theater perspective, Susan Clement, producing artistic director and CEO of BLUEBARN Theatre, says Omaha’s creative vibe has matured as the city has grown.
“The city is super arts driven,” she says. “It’s still really grassroots, but with a high aesthetic. We’re still really able to experiment and work from authentic places because Omahans, they’re art lovers, man!”
BLUEBARN is a professional theater that presents new plays as well as fresh takes on old classics. Its story began in the late 1980s when a bunch of New York-trained actors ended up in Nebraska.
“A member of our acting company was living in Omaha and invited us to come produce shows,” Clement says. “One by one, a few of us followed. The type of theater we were trained to do wasn’t being made in the city.”
Their efforts led to the production of more than 100 plays and a new 96-seat theater that opened in 2015.
“We built it from the ground up,” Clement says. “Never in our wildest dreams did we think we’d have our own theater.”
Other area theaters have long, successful histories, too. Dating to 1924, the Omaha Community Playhouse is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit community theaters and is famous for its annual production of A Christmas Carol.
South of Omaha, Bellevue Little Theatre has been around since 1968, and each year, it stages productions with more than 200 volunteer actors and crew members.
At the other end of the spectrum, Omaha Performing Arts (OPA) operates three major venues downtown. Built in 1927, the restored Orpheum Theater is a former vaudeville house that brings in touring Broadway shows, like The Outsiders and Peter Pan. Nearby, the Holland Performing Arts Center is known for its contemporary design and acoustics, attracting musical acts, like Leonid & Friends, and comedians, like Heather McMahan. Steelhouse Omaha is the largest of OPA’s venues, with a capacity of 3,000. It hosts various musicians, like Tyler Hubbard, and comedians, like Trey Kennedy.
Visual Arts Flourish in Omaha, NE
The visual arts play a large role in the region’s creative scene, as well, starting with the exterior of the city’s main art museum.
“The Joslyn consists of three highly regarded buildings,” says Jack Becker, the museum’s executive director and CEO. “The 1931 Joslyn Memorial is considered one of America’s great art deco buildings. The 1994 Scott was designed by the highly acclaimed British architect Norman Foster. And the brand new Hawks Pavilion elegantly ties all three together.”
Inside, The Joslyn is equally impressive.
“The museum’s collection spans 5,000 years of human creativity, bringing people together to explore art across time and cultures,” Becker says.
Several blocks away, the Durham Museum has turned Omaha’s Union Station into a showcase of regional history with thousands of historical objects, photographs and traveling exhibits affiliated with the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, National Archives and Field Museum. One of Clement’s favorite museums is El Museo Latino, which focuses on Hispanic arts and heritage in Nebraska and features national and international artists.
“It’s beautifully curated,” Clement says. “And it’s a really important museum to experience. It brings an authenticity to how our Hispanic community welcomes people.”
Clement also recommends the Union for Contemporary Art, a nonprofit arts organization that uses the arts to encourage social change through exhibitions, fellowships, co-op studios and youth programs.
Omaha’s impressive arts scene extends across the Missouri River to neighboring Council Bluffs, IA, where Pottawattamie Arts, Culture and Entertainment (PACE) is an umbrella arts center for several groups, providing performance, exhibit and classroom space and centralizing marketing and fundraising.
“Once you come here, you realize Omaha has a unique heartbeat,” Clement says. “I always call it a big little city. The energy is super creative, allowing artists and arts organizations to push limits and inspire.”
This article was sponsored by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.