Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts

Having participated in numerous artist residencies around the US and abroad, the program that Bemis offers is truly unparalleled—it is by far the most transformative and supportive residency I have done in my career. Bemis is unique in bringing incredible national and international artists in a collective cohort, all of whom I have a strong relationship to this day from our time together at Bemis. The facilities of Bemis’s incredible personal studios, housing, common areas for exhibitions and gatherings, sculptural facilities, sound studio, gallery space, and libraries offer an immediate landscape of ease and accessibility for artists to succeed while in residence. Bemis is by far the most organized, well-run residency, overflowing with resources to complete any project imagined—and, with the help of its warm staff, an artist can approach and workshop new ideas to execute during their residency. If it’s not available directly through the fabulous fabrication facilities, such as working in another material like glass, large-scale printing, bronze, their team will connect you to the greater Omaha creative community which is rich with makers from many backgrounds. Similarly, if you want to collaborate with a particular member in the Omaha community for your artist project, the Bemis team is available to help you channel those resources. I was able to continue my oceanic research with the Omaha Aquarium and created a podcast episode detailing my time with the scientists in their coral conversation lab and other restoration efforts that the aquarium was doing behind the scenes. In the greater Omaha community, Bemis is unique in bringing artists from around the world to connect and forge lasting relationships with local artists and creatives through their extensive public programing, such as music and sound art events in their Low End performance space. It was at a performance that I met many local artists and musicians who I continue to have deep friendships with to this day. One ceramist I connected to in my first week at a Bemis Center Low End performance has become an invaluable friend who assisted me in developing my first ceramic glazes. Because of the generous stipend an artist receives while being in residence, I was able to later hire her as my glaze technician to learn alongside her in the glaze laboratory at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.