Bemis Window Project:
Omaha The Next 150 Years
Please Join Us In Creating Something Spectacular!

The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts is proud to present a public art project that will beautify our community and draw thousands to the Old Market and downtown Omaha. The Bemis Window Project is expected to involve over 1,000 "participainters" - participating students, adults, children - who will create window-shaped mural paintings for the window openings on the Bemis Center's McCord-Brady Warehouse building in the historic Old Market area of Downtown Omaha. Participainters will be students in local schools, members of local youth organizations (Boys & Girls Club, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, mentoring groups), senior citizens, artists, members of civic organizations, corporate employees and many others. Our goals for this project are to raise public art awareness, involve the community at the Bemis Center, heighten our visibility within the community and to raise funds in support of artistic programming at Bemis.

Windows were chosen as the artistic subject of this project because of the current state of many of the windows of our building. On the upper floors of the McCord-Brady Warehouse building, located at 12th and Leavenworth Streets in Omaha, window openings are either bricked over or contain old windows. over… The artistic potential of these window-opening spaces was brought to our attention in the past year, and the concept for an exciting public art project emerged.

Focusing on the theme of "Omaha: The Next 150 Years", the Bemis Window Project will team an artist-facilitator with a small group of participainters. The artist-facilitator will lead the group through the process of formulating ideas for the window-shaped murals (approximately 8' x 5' in size), and will assist participainters with the creation of their work of art. Production of the murals will take place during a series of three to five weekend workshops scheduled for the spring of 2003. All painting activities will take place at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts.

Organizations, businesses, individuals and others from the community will sponsor windows for this project. Packets of information for potential sponsors, artist facilitators and participainters are available. A special steering committee has been formed to assist with the Bemis Window Project. Members of this committee serve as advisors and ambassadors for the project. Bemis staff provides administrative support. In-kind sources for materials and installation assistance are also being sought.

Once the window-shaped murals are complete, a special "Window Opening Opening" will begin on May 3, 2003, in the Bemis Galleries. Participainters and the general public will be able to view each window up-close before the window murals are installed on the building, in the window openings. Each mural will also be photographed at this time. The official "Window Opening Unveiling" is scheduled for May 10, 2003, when the entire building will be unveiled as Omaha's newest work of public art! The Bemis Window Project will be on-view through 2004, and perhaps into 2005. Plans also call for the production of a guide to the window opening murals on the building, as well as a possible series of publications to document the project.

We are currently seeking community leaders interested in serving on the Steering Committee as well as participants, volunteers, artists/facilitators, sponsors and donations of materials.
WANT TO HELP? Please call Heather Pool at
(402) 341-7130 or email bemis@novia.net