I think this residency is perfect for a US based artist needing good production facilities. I came from Ireland and it would have been costly to ship large or heavy work home. There are amazing facilities both at Bemis and in Omaha. The Low End gig venue at Bemis is brilliant, I went to so many great concerts while I was at Bemis. The art community in Omaha is wonderful. Some of the warmest and nicest people I've meet in USA. Challenges were more based around the city, getting to the Grocery store for example you need to drive the Bemis Van which I found terrifying but in the long run meant I ate less snacks from Trader Joes which was a good thing. The sound bleed between the studio apartments can be tricky if your neighbour is making louder sounds. Overall Bemis is great.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts
Omaha, Nebraska, United States
About
The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, since its inception in 1981, has stood as a beacon for artists worldwide, offering an invaluable platform for research, creation, and exploration. Located in Omaha, Nebraska, the Bemis Center provides a rich environment for artists to delve into their creative processes without the constraints of specific outcomes or expectations. The residency offers a unique blend of private live/work studios, extensive installation and production spaces, and specialized facilities such as the Okada Sculpture & Ceramics Facility and a Sound Studio. These spaces are designed to support a wide range of artistic activities, from large-scale sculpture fabrication to sound experimentation and recording. Residents benefit from the Bemis Center’s commitment to fostering a vibrant community among a multidisciplinary mix of artists. This community is not only a source of professional collaboration but also a foundation for lasting personal friendships. Moreover, the Bemis Center provides its artists-in-residence with financial support to cover personal needs, material costs, and travel expenses, easing the financial burden and allowing them to focus on their artistic development. Technical and administrative support further enhances the residency experience, enabling artists to navigate challenges and seize opportunities to advance their work. The Bemis Center also places a strong emphasis on public engagement, inviting residents to share their work through presentations, open studios, and interactions with the broader community and local art organizations. This approach enriches the residency experience, offering artists a platform to showcase their work and engage with diverse audiences.
Disciplines
Facilities
Professional Opportunities
Rating Breakdown
Reviews(4)
Bemis is an incredible place. The studios are fantastic and Okada was an amazing place for me to work. I was able to weld 24/7 there and build some really big sculptures. I loved my loft studio which was flooded with gorgeous natural light every day. And the sound studio was amazing—so much tech and equipment to experiment with! I was able to record an entirely new body of work in that space. The studio techs and residency staff were so helpful and wonderful.
This residency is good if you have a project in mind and would need the infrastructure and support to execute it. They have large live-work studios and the duration of 2-3 months can be used effectively.
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.