BFF Omaha 2024 Year in Review!
2024 was our BIGGEST year yet! Take a look back on year TWELVE of building community through arts engagement in the Benson Creative District!
FEBRUARY
More of the Same // Bart Vargas. Photo by Katera Brown
At Petshop Gallery, Bart Vargas debuted “MORE OF THE SAME: A Series of Juvenile Collages and Some Paintings by a Middle-Aged Man,” an exhibition that foregrounded the artist’s playful yet thoughtful engagement with collage. Drawing on decades of collected magazines and books, Vargas fashioned new compositions that ranged from humorous and lighthearted to heavy and socially charged. His process, influenced by years of teaching and practicing other media, embraced simplicity as harmony, revealing how just a handful of carefully chosen images could resonate like musical notes. Alongside these collages, Vargas presented paintings derived from his daily drawing exercises, showcasing the breadth of his evolving visual vocabulary. Meanwhile, at the BFF Gallery, February’s First Friday “Hyper-Space” by Michael Zimmerman introduced audiences to new works probing spatial narratives and conceptual depth.
MARCH
“Cult Act” // Rebecca Bartlett. Photo by Katera Brown
At Petshop Gallery, Rebecca Bartlett’s exhibition “Cult Act” immersed audiences in layered, symbolic works that pondered mortality, spirituality, and the fragile boundaries separating order from chaos. Her canvases, filled with hard lines and lush red smears, contrasted nature’s fluid unpredictability with humanity’s futile attempts at control. Drawing from the artist’s internal complexities—id, ego, superego, and the presence of the divine—these paintings acted as intimate, visual poems about death and the reverence we grant to our actions and choices. Meanwhile, at BFF Gallery, Emma Krenzer’s “Can You See Nebraska from Heaven?” extended March’s contemplative tone. With images that prompted questions about memory, place, and the afterlife, Krenzer’s work encouraged viewers to consider how landscapes and personal histories intertwine, even beyond the boundaries of earthly existence.
APRIL
“Get To The Point" // Angelina Gutierrez. Photo by Katera Brown
At BFF Gallery, “Any Road Can Take You There” by Nash Bellows introduced viewers to a mesmerizing world of digital collage. Bellows’s artworks challenged audiences to rethink the idea of a destination, transporting them through intricate layers of imagery that blurred the line between known and unknown landscapes. Meanwhile, at Petshop Gallery, the opening of “Get To The Point” by Angelina Gutierrez brought forth a powerful narrative of resilience and healing. As a Latina single mother, Gutierrez found in art a sanctuary—a space to reclaim her identity and find emotional strength. Each piece not only reflected her deeply personal journey but also offered a testament to female empowerment and transformative growth.
The MaMO Gallery hosted “The Potential of Refuse”, an unconventional showcase curated by the BFF Green Team and shaped by community participation. Under the guidance of Courtney Brink and Sanitation Artist in Resident Viy, discarded materials became raw ingredients for creative reinvention. This collective exploration demonstrated that what we cast aside can become a wellspring of artistic possibility.
MAY
South Artist Market. Photo by James Dean
This month marked the start of the BFF Summer Artist Market, running each First Friday from May through September. More than 100+ artists, vendors, and community partners gathered in the district, transforming the streets—the North Market at Military Ave between Maple & Binney, and the South Market at 62nd St between Maple & Miami—into an epicenter of visual art, crafts, and social connection.
“Playing a Blank Canvas” / Dex Skillestad / SOUNDSPARK. Photo by James Dean
SOUNDSPARK, a brand new sound art walk organized by TAPEnsemble, Omaha Mobile Stage, BFF Omaha, and the Benson Creative District, introduced a multisensory layer to the evening. Visitors encountered sound-based artworks and performances that blended the visual, conceptual, and performative with the aural. Featured artists included Alex Jacobsen, Lillian Kraft, Colectivo Mictlan, and Nick Spencer. Meanwhile, Things I Tell You offered “The Understory” within the MaMO gallery trailer, an immersive environment of ambient music generated from plants’ energy, shifting lights, and enchanting projections by David Carney. This conceptual forest beneath the forest canopy evoked introspection, renewal, and a heightened appreciation for the subtleties of nature’s rhythms.
At the BFF Gallery, “On Islands” by Travis Apel—also part of SOUNDSPARK—invited guests to interact with sculptures and instruments that remained silent until activated by touch. This hands-on installation offered a contemplative space linked to mental health awareness, encouraging visitors to find solace, foster connection, and create spontaneous soundscapes together. Beyond sound and interactivity, May’s events welcomed the return of Pull Up and Vibe, a two-day open mic festival presented by CCVisions and Omaha Mobile Stage. From music and spoken word to diverse genres of performance, this inclusive stage highlighted the district’s commitment to celebrating talents of all backgrounds, featuring artists like Dreion, Adon Tai, Monique, and Dex Arbor.
Benson High School Senior Art Show. Photo by James Dean.
Benson High School joined the First Friday fun with a Senior Art Show, culminating in the unveiling of a mural by artist Oria Simonini and the distribution of Benson High’s Literary Arts Magazine and Business Directory. This collaboration underscored the district’s mission to nurture emerging creatives and connect them with the broader community.
Meanwhile, Petshop Gallery showcased “BRAINEATERS, cont.” by MacKenzie Davis. Davis’s multimedia works visualized the daily realities of living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), translating invisible symptoms, emotional burdens, and the anxiety of uncertainty into visceral imagery. Her pieces, informed by printmaking and multimedia approaches, asked viewers to acknowledge conditions so often hidden from view and to cultivate empathy through art.
JUNE
JUDYJAM. Photo by James Dean.
For June, BFF Omaha hosted First Friday Pride! An unexpected thunderstorm led to the cancellation of the BFF Artist Markets. However, eventgoers were not disappointed, as the drag extravaganza JUDYJAM was relocated to the backlot of Petshop. Hosted by Purris Stilton, JUDYJAM featured a dynamic cast including Annie Christ, Dior Carter, Ilana Case Deveaux, Juanna Vi Mii, Lady Etta Mommy, Lucy Roxia, and Valeria J Luxe.
Tilt23 Pride Showcase at Ted & Wally’s highlighted performances by Darren Renfrow, E Rawq, and Pride Players #25, while Queer Nite at The Sydney welcomed an expansive lineup of drag and burlesque artists, musicians, poets, and DJs.
Mark Andrew’s “Body of Work”. Photo by Katera Brown
At Petshop Gallery, Mark Andrew’s “Body of Work” reimagined what an artistic portfolio could be, dividing the space into two contrasting galleries—one brimming with his signature bold colors and iconography, the other exploring introspection and new directions influenced by Midwest landscapes, ancient civilizations, and technology. This duality invited viewers to question how artists grow, shift, and redefine their own creative identities over time.
Over at BFF Gallery, Alyssa Schmitt curated “Here & Queer,” a collection of LGBTQ+ self-portraits that gave a face (or many faces) to the month’s guiding spirit of authenticity and representation. These artworks confronted viewers with the intimate truths of queer identity, challenging stereotypes and celebrating uniqueness.
“Lighthouse for the Working Class”. Photo by James Dean
Meanwhile, the MaMO Gallery hosted “Lighthouse for the Working Class,” an anonymous work that traced connections between dispossession, displacement, and colonial conquests—both abroad and on Indigenous lands in North America.
JULY
Cassidy Coalson at the BFF Gallery. Photo by Katera Brown
At BFF Gallery, the opening of “In Fabricated Spaces: Midwest Identities” by Cassidy Coalson confronted viewers with the complexities of rural Americana. Through a combination of traditional canvases and unconventional surfaces like found fabrics and domestic objects, Coalson’s work uncovered the subtle and sometimes hidden negotiations of identity within conservative, geographically isolated communities. Drawing from real midwestern citizens’ stories, the pieces evoked both a sense of intimacy and quiet resistance, highlighting “unfinished business” as a stylistic and conceptual choice—an invitation for viewers to witness the artist’s evolving process and her pushback against social ignorance.
Meanwhile, at Petshop Gallery, “The Meeting of the Galactic Resonance” by Isabella Janssen immersed visitors in a speculative narrative about a fringe online group that sees computers as divine entities and yearns to transcend the human body through technology. Janssen’s work examined the metaphysical anxieties of 2024’s digital era, critiquing how wellness and spiritual culture intersect with misinformation and digital cult tactics.
“This Wide Web We’ve Been Weaving” / Photo by Katera Brown
The MaMO Gallery’s journey to Grrrl Camp expanded July’s theme of collective creation and community narrative-building. “This Wide Web We’ve Been Weaving” by Carlie Waganer emerged from rope-making workshops held during a previous First Friday. The resulting installation represented collaboration and communal storytelling, underscoring how shared practices—like weaving rope together—can strengthen social fabrics and celebrate collective creativity.
AUGUST
African Immigrant Family Services at Ted and Wally’s. Photo by Katera Brown
The 11th Annual New American Arts Festival (NAAF) on August 2nd, a partnership among Lutheran Family Services, Heartland Family Service, and BFF Omaha that honored the city’s immigrant, migrant, and refugee communities. The festival’s main stage sparkled with international performances—Egyptian belly dancing from Sapphire (Saharan Divas), the Adanu Heartland Ensemble’s cross-cultural rhythms, classical Indian dance by Raga Tala, and the Omkara Band’s global sounds—while a Madonnari Street Mural Workshop encouraged visitors to join artists Rosa Nelson and Oria Simonini in transforming pavement into a communal canvas. Attendees wrote Letters to Home, reflecting on journeys and distant loved ones. African Immigrant Family Services led youth drumming sessions at Ted & Wally’s, and community partnerships—alongside the D’Colores Art Bus and food workshops by Jane and Hani Hani—fostered deep connections and cultural sharing.
“Have We Met Before?” // Mimi Yu. Photo by Katera Brown.
At Petshop Gallery, “Have We Met Before?” by Mimi Yu invited audiences into quiet, sentimental spaces shaped by memory and longing, blending subtle details and found imagery to craft atmospheres of acceptance and intimate recollection. At BFF Gallery, Santi Moral-Amaral’s “LIFTOACH” played a role in the festival’s central narrative.
Throughout August, Amelia Broussard guided participants in the Genealogy and Local History Room at the Omaha Public Library to bring their family stories to life through collage, zine-making, and prints. Drop-in sessions at the MaMO Gallery trailer offered accessible opportunities for people to turn personal treasures—recipes, letters, photographs—into expressive art. These sessions would culminate in the September exhibition “Remnants of the Past,” broadening the month’s emphasis on the continuity of heritage and creative expression.
PETFEST 2024 crowd. Photo by Katera Brown.
PETFEST 2024 was BFF Omaha’s highly anticipated annual music festival and fundraiser, held on August 17th at Petshop Gallery. This all-day event featured an eclectic lineup of over 20 bands and performers across two stages, with highlights including Dance Me Pregnant, Flamboyant Gods, Ebba Rose, Ex Lover, Jeff in Leather, Western Haikus and Vempire. With genres spanning from indie rock to experimental soundscapes, PETFEST brought the community together for a celebration of creativity, diversity, and local talent.
SEPTEMBER
Benson Pet Parade. Photo by Katera Brown
The festivities began with “FURst Friday,” where animal lovers gathered at a pop-up dog park hosted by The Byrd Bath and lined the streets for the Benson Pet Parade.
Feral Friends. Photo by Katera Brown
Just beyond the parade route, Petshop Gallery opened “Feral Friends,” curated by Kim Darling and Alex Jochim. Featuring over 40 national and international artists, this show delved deep into the primal bonds between humans and dogs—themes of companionship, survival, trust, and the blurred line between domestication and wildness. By partnering with Muddy Paws dog rescue, “Feral Friends” brought artistic exploration and tangible impact together.
BFF Gallery invited audiences to slip into the multisensory world of “Synthetic Synesthesia,” curated by Jen Yi-We Hernandez. Eleven local artists drew on the nostalgic allure of scratch ’n’ sniff stickers to conjure summertime scents, candy-shop sweetness, and the crisp edge of a new school year. Their artworks engaged memory as well as the senses, reminding visitors that art can resurrect past moments through fragrance, color, and texture—inviting them to feel as much as to see.
Bart Vargas / SYSTEMES at Star Deli. Photo by Maria LaPenta
Rounding out the month’s transformations, Bart Vargas’s “SYSTEMES: A Formalist Installation” at Star Deli (6114 Military Avenue) crowned September’s offerings with a conceptual flourish. After more than two years of planning and creation, Vargas converted the familiar deli space into a formalist artwork. Patterns, shapes, and carefully composed forms energized the room, challenging viewers to consider how space itself can be the medium and message of artistic inquiry.
OCTOBER
Omaha Symphony Ensemble at BFF Gallery. Photo by Katera Brown
The Omaha Symphony Ensemble played a free concert at BFF Gallery during the opening of 'Both-And' by Brian Joel Damon and Paula Bosco Damon, which examined the interplay of multiple truths, perspectives, and identities. Nearby, Trudy’s hosted a free clay workshop with Trudy Swanson, inviting attendees to explore the tactile joys of handcrafting and creative play.
At Petshop Gallery, "co-motion commotion" by Madeleine LeMieux debuted, showcasing her mixed-media works that explored themes of home, sexuality, and the body’s relationship to technology and public expression. LeMieux’s richly layered pieces pushed viewers to rethink the boundaries between personal and societal identity, offering a powerful commentary on contemporary life.
Out in the Park. Photo by MJ Atayi.
Later in the month, "Out in the Park: Celebrating Queer History & Community" honored Omaha’s LGBTQIA2S+ legacy through the Queer History Mapping Project. This event invited attendees to share stories, identify historical sites, and learn from the Queer Omaha Archives. Drag performances by Donna Resuscitate, Babygirl Uchawi, Mimosa Savage, and Ilana Case Deveaux, music by DJ Riz, and community tables created a festive, educational atmosphere that celebrated Omaha’s LGBTQIA2S+ history and culture.
NOVEMBER
Equal Before Life and Death at Trudy’s. Photo by Katera Brown
Trudy’s became the focal point of a reflective, culturally rich observance with "Equal Before Life and Death: A Día de Muertos Celebration." In collaboration with Soundarte.net, this event blended music, visual art, and folkloric performances, evoking connections to ancestors and the spiritual realm. Visitors encountered an ofrenda designed by Frank Vel, with contributions from Linda Garcia and the Mexican American Historical Society of the Midlands. This tribute, which combined Mesoamerican traditions with European influences, invited participants to leave photos of their loved ones who had passed, blending memory, community, and ritual into a heartfelt evening.
Mystery MaMO. Photo by Katera Brown
At the same time, The Mystery MaMO Haunted House provided a haunting, immersive experience that blurred the lines between reality and the supernatural. Visitors navigated through rooms filled with spooky artifacts, each evoking personal and collective histories. The experience encouraged reflection on how the intangible echoes of the past shape our perceptions of life and death.
November’s First Friday at Petshop Gallery also highlighted the Munroe-Meyer Institute’s Advocacy and the Arts Program, showcasing the work of D’a Jore Bell, Robert Dewale, and Genisa Neal. These artists have enriched the program for four years, sharing their creative visions and personal experiences shaped by disability.
The Fur Ball and Art Auction. Photo by Katera Brown
The centerpiece of November’s First Friday was the Fur Ball & Art Auction, held on November 8th at BFF Gallery and the Mercer Masonic Lodge. Hosted by the incomparable Domita Sanchez, the event combined art, performance, fashion, and culinary delights into an unforgettable night. Over 75 visual artists contributed works across a variety of styles, while the trio Parfait and drag icons Mimosa Savage, Nauta Drag Queen, and Domita Sanchez brought high energy and flair to the evening. A runway show by K.E.Y. Designs and an immersive installation by Alyssa Schmitt transformed the venue into a multifaceted celebration of creativity. With complimentary refreshments from Shaheen’s Afghan Cuisine and Benson Brewery, guests were encouraged to wear their best faux-fur or fantastical attire. The event brought together art lovers, collectors, and community members to celebrate and support local creativity.
DECEMBER
On First Friday, December 6th, Krampus descended upon the neighborhood for the BAD KID SCAVENGER HUNT, scattering “Bad Kid” dolls throughout the district. Eager participants scoured the streets, hoping to return their found dolls to Petshop Gallery. Nearby, local businesses united in a Winter Coat & Food Drive for Project Hope, collecting everything from pasta and peanut butter to diapers and laundry soap.
Over at BFF Gallery, the UNO Foundations 3D class presented “We Are All Just Stories In The End.” This showcase featured 3D works by emerging artists
Meanwhile, at Petshop Gallery, the Arts Management Mentees of The Joslyn’s Kent Bellows Mentoring Program revealed the group exhibition “Cowboys, Wizards, and Vampires…Oh My!!” With its archetype-inspired theme, the show captured the cultural fascination with legendary figures and folklore, including a nod to vampire fan art that playfully acknowledged centuries of vampiric lore.
THAT’S A WRAP ON 2024! Thanks for another amazing year! Ready for 2025? Become a Friend of BFF and be the FIRST to know what 2025 has to offer! Sign up now at bffomaha.org/friend