Art4Omaha TEAM Project
Corazon de mi Via
La Plaza de la Raza
South Omaha Sound Field
Art4Omaha TEAM Project
Construction: Acrylic on Canvas
Artists: Maria Alcala, Brian Coate, Emmanuel Fernandez, Teddy Gonzalez, Melissa Mahoney, Cindy Penalosa, Fernando Pintor, Jessica Ray, Nick Smith, and Emily Wilkins
Location: South Omaha Library
Installed: 2008
Hanging above the South Omaha Library’s circulation desk is a detailed set of acrylic-on-canvases representing a variety of historical South Omaha mainstays. The succession of paintings was created as a part of the 2006 Art4Omaha’s TEAM “Together Everyone Achieves More” project by a group of students from South High School. Maria Alcala, Brian Coate, Emmanuel Fernandez, Teddy Gonzalez, Melissa Mahoney, Cindy Penalosa, Fernando Pintor, Jessica Ray, Nick Smith, and Emily Wilkins collaborated together to compose a sequence of paintings embodying the spirit of South Omaha’s work, entertainment and barrio traditions. The five panels are united by their bold use of reds and blues and the continuous reference of railroad tracks, creating an overall sense of South Omaha’s chronological melting pot.
(N. Mixan, January 2012)
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Corazon de mi Via
Construction: Fiberglass
Artist: Linda Garcia-Perez
Location: South Omaha Library
Installed: 2001
Corazon de mi Via (Love of my Life), located in our lobby, is a fiberglass sculpture by Linda Garcia-Perez, made in 2001 as a part of the City of Omaha Public Art Commission’s J. Doe project. Garcia-Perez is a Chicana artist who has been utilizing her extensive knowledge of Mexican/Latino folk arts and culture years to produce, teach, and exhibit bodies of work throughout the state of Nebraska for over 35 years. Corazon de mi Via (Love of my Life) is a vibrant celebration of the artist’s esteem for the hard working women and men in her community. Using a palette that reflects the vivacity of traditional Mexican colors, the piece truly reflects upon what Garcia-Perez holds most dear: her Chicana artistic heritage.
(N. Mixan, January 2012)
View this art in a 3D virtual tour!, opens a new window
La Plaza de la Raza
Construction: Bronze
Location: South Omaha Library
Installed: 1988
La Plaza De La Raza (The Gathering Place of the Races) is a bronze plaque mounted on the wall next to the library’s front doors. The piece was dedicated to the Omaha Public Library on September 16th, 1988 as a tribute to the robust and diverse customs of South Omaha’s immigrant community. The plaque’s use of the Aztec Sun Stone reinforces its connection to South district’s multiplicity of ethnic groups and changing populations. Originally hand carved from basalt between 1427 and 1479, the famous stone is an extraordinary artistic and geometric enterprise. The calendar reflects the Aztecs’ intricate understanding of time and space, as well as their grasp of precise architecture.
(N. Mixan, January 2012)
View this art in a 3D virtual tour!, opens a new window
South Omaha Sound Field
Construction: Aluminum chimes, galvanized steel structure, electronics, computer, and custom computer program.
Artist: Jamie Burmeister
Location: South Omaha Library
Installed: 2008
Prominently featured outside of the library’s main doors is the South Omaha Sound Field. The artwork, commissioned by the City of Omaha and Metropolitan Community College in 2008, is an interactive sculpture by the Omaha-based artist Jamie Burmeister. The interactive sound installation is a representation of the melding of South Omaha’s cultures through music. When viewers engage the sensors on each of the seven sculptures, the chimes play music. The various compositions change depending on how many sensors are depressed at the same time. Through merging new digital technologies with long-rooted sculptural techniques, Burmeister emphasizes the transitional qualities of the South Omaha neighborhood—a community that utilizes innovations to grow into the 21st century and, yet, proudly upholds the time honored traditions of its many residents.
