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Best of Omaha Campaign
TELL US WHO IS THE BEST
Best of Omaha Voting: July 1-Aug. 20 Omaha Magazine values your opinion. That is why we started a contest that allows you, the public, to vote on your favorite places in Omaha. Since 1992, our Best of Omaha contest has been a fun event. It started with categories such as “Best Place to Buy Cassette Tapes.” (Does anyone remember those?)
Through the years, the contest has grown, and with it, the number of voters has grown. Please welcome our sponsors, KETV and Walnut Media, owner of 1492 Boomer Radio and KCRO.
In order to become a “Best of Omaha,” restaurants, retailers, and businesses need your vote. That is especially important this year, as you can make a real difference in a business’ reputation and bottom line. You can feel good about voting in Best of Omaha, because we are the city’s legitimate “best of" contest.
Like the local businesses you love, our voting system is fair, convenient, and free from manipulation. We use a verified email system for all voters. We only accept one ballot per verified email in order to avoid vote-stuffing. The ballots are free of advertising and sponsorships. It doesn’t take much time to vote, and, although there are lots of fun categories from which people can choose—German Bar and Outdoor Entertainment Venue are among new favorites around here—the minimum number of votes is five. We also leave the category fields blank so voters are not steered towards certain businesses. To encourage voting and say thank you, many local businesses offer discounts that the public can obtain simply by showing their proof-of-voting certificate. Anyone who completes the Best of Omaha voting ballot will receive the certificate and discounts that come with it. Who you vote for does not show or affect your ability to receive the discounts. Please take a few minutes and vote at bestofomaha.com.
SHAWN OSWALD
General Manager KETV KETV is proud to partner with Omaha Magazine on the 2022 Best of Omaha. After a year unlike any other, it’s important that we highlight the hard work and passion local business owners showed to make it through an extremely tough time for local businesses.
Your votes help us highlight the amazing and unique work being done right here in our community. From the nominees to the winners, thanks for making Omaha a great place to live and work.
PATRICK COMBS
Vice President Walnut Media Walnut Media is honored to continue our partnership with Omaha Magazine as a media sponsor of the Best of Omaha campaign. Being recognized by consumers as the top businesses in their category is a great accomplishment. We are happy to spread the word to our listeners and continue to encourage active participation in the voting process. We are proud to support the effort on our two locally owned radio properties: The Boomer Radio Network and KCRO, The Heartlands Christian Voice, as well as our multiple digital assets. Omaha Magazine continues to do an outstanding job of making the “Best of Omaha” the premier program in the country and we are excited to once again partner with them on this effort.
We encourage you to support the businesses and sponsors throughout the coming year and beyond!
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wholly his own
FEATURE // KANEKO CREATING CERAMICS AND A VIBRANT ART SCENE
what does it mean?”
is often said to be the question that makes every artist cringe.
The path to enlightenment, it seems, begins not with a step but with a shortcut. Positively pregnant with a half-hearted need for clarification that borders on the uninclined, the question concerns itself far less with the artist’s inspiration than the patron’s interpretation.
Jun Kaneko doesn’t hate the question. He swears he doesn’t. But every time he hears it, he isn’t quite sure what the question is either.
“I say, ‘I wish I knew the answer,” he said. “Because that’s what I’m looking for, too. When you find out what it means, that’s the end of it, isn’t it? If you completely understood what you’re looking for and then you understand what you’re looking at, what’s next? That’s it. You have to quit. Questions are tricky. The questions you ask yourself could help your truth, but they could kill you.”
Kaneko hasn’t quit yet. He’s still seeking the answers and the questions that consume him and his art.
An internationally acclaimed sculptor best known for his ceramic “dangos”—named for the sweet dumplings of his childhood—that resemble swollen, three-dimensional canvases of abstract graphics and colors, Kaneko has called Omaha home for more than 30 years. Now 79 and diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, he can still be found most days in his studio, where he’d much rather be making art than talking about it. His work? That’s the same as it ever was.
Bold. Contemplative. Playful. And wholly his own.
Kaneko’s sculptures are included in more than 40 museum collections internationally and more than two dozen public art commissions bear his name around the world. All of it painstakingly created—or at the very least conceived—in his Omaha studio. He and wife, Ree Schonlau Kaneko, have been Omaha arts scene mainstays since the 1980s. They were instrumental in the founding of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art before opening their Kaneko Gallery in 1998. All of it housed on a near city block of century-old former warehouses at 11th and Jones streets in the Old Market. For half a century, Kaneko has immersed himself in the contemporary ceramics movement and come out the other side as world renown as he is enigmatic about what makes his work uniquely his. “I just like to do my own thing,” Kaneko said. “Even making my own pieces I don’t know if I’m doing good stuff or bad stuff or making a ton of trash.” How Kaneko found himself in Omaha still seems to surprise the artist. And not unlike his transition from self-described abstract painter to ceramic sculptor, both happened nearly by chance.
Born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1942,
Kaneko arrived in America in 1963 with $300 in his pocket, little knowledge of the English language, and a plan to study painting at Chouinard Institute of Art. In Los Angeles, Kaneko was taken in by Fred and Mary Marer. The Marers happened to be avid collectors of what was then a relatively new art form: modernist ceramic sculpture. Kaneko can still recall the Marers’ tiny apartment jam packed with colorful, glazed sculptures unlike anything he’d ever seen.
“I would look at it and think, ‘This is something,’” Kaneko said. “If I didn’t see her that [second] time, I probably [would not have] come to Omaha,” Kaneko said of his future wife.
After considering studio space on the East and West coasts, Ree convinced him to consider real estate options in Omaha’s downtown. Kaneko purchased a 40,000 square foot former brick warehouse in the Old Market in 1990.
Kaneko didn’t realize it at the time, but he had landed smack dab in the middle of the American Contemporary Ceramics Movement. His interest soon became obsession. The young artist went on to study under Peter Voulkos, Paul Soldner, and Jerry Rothman, all masters of the era. Rothman first gave Kaneko clay of his own and a corner of his studio in which to experiment.
“It was a ton of mixed clay,” Kaneko said. “He dumped it on the floor and told me to go to work. He didn’t teach me anything about it.”
Kaneko began by making flat, ceramic slabs and painting them because “…that’s what I knew how to do.” He had no idea if he was any good but kept at it. He made hundreds of flat slabs and painted them. Then he got tired of it. He wanted something more. He slapped two slabs upright together as a “more three-dimensional piece, with a front and back.”
Then it began to bother him that his pieces had a front side and a back side.
“I always had one side I liked better than the other,” he said. “When you take a picture of the side you like and send it, the back side, nobody knows. So I decided it wasn’t good.” By the mid 1960s, Kaneko had transitioned out of painting to sculpture, although the former was always integral to the latter.
Over the following decade, Kaneko taught ceramics at leading art schools Scripps College, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art. All the while, he developed what would become his signature style, reflecting his origins as a painter and embracing the ceramic artist in him. His dangos, his giant sculpted heads, and wall plates seem to push at the limits of their creative space from meager beginnings as lumps of dull gray clay. When he first made the move, he got questions from other artists curious why he chose Omaha of all places as his base of operations.
“I had quit my job, I had no income, I wasn’t selling at all and I came to Omaha where there wasn’t that big of support for art at the time,” he said. “So a lot of people were checking me out to see if I was still alive.”
The new studio came at a fraction of what he might have paid in New York or Los Angeles, and gave Kaneko space and solitude—two things the artist known for creating largerthan-life sculptures that can weigh hundreds of pounds and extend more than 10 feet tall was positively giddy about. Some works can take as much as 18 months to dry and years to paint. The ceramic creative process is as lengthy as it is measured, from the shaping of the piece from raw clay, to the drying, to the glazing, to the kiln firing, and the cooling. Each step is impacted as much by his own hand as climate and gravity.
He then began molding the shape, making it more spherical, more three-dimensional, without edges, with neither back nor front. For the next few years he experimented until it looked “interesting enough,” he said. “It was gradual but it took shape.” In 1983 Kaneko was commissioned for his first large scale endeavor: the Omaha Project at the former Omaha Brickworks. It was around this time that Kaneko would give up teaching and pursue his work full time. A chance encounter with then-Ree Schonlau not once, but twice, would change the geographical trajectory of exactly where he would work. “Everything I do takes a really long time to develop. Even glazing. I even keep changing my glazing technique. You can just apply the glaze or spray it or brush it on or dip it but there’s so many ways of doing that.”
Kaneko thinks he learns something about himself and his art with every new piece, every velvety layer of glaze, and every brushstroke over years of working on a project.
“Some artists want to figure everything out before they start, like in conceptual art. Lots of artists try to figure it all out as close as they can so they don’t waste their time,” Kaneko said. “In my case, it’s more like an intuition. I do one thing and that changes a piece. And then I add something to it and then I think about how to improve that and do another thing.
It’s a back and forth. It’s a conversation.
I always have to have as open a mind as possible before I start something.”
" -jun kaneko
The FEATURE // STORY BY VIRGINIA KATHRYN GALLNER Photography by Bill Sitzmann // Design by Matt Wieczorek Turning an Eye to Emerging Local Artists NEXT Verse
Throughout the past year while the curtains have been closed, musicians have been hard at work behind the scenes. Without live performances, it’s hard to stay connected with audiences. Some have connected through livestreams, like Aly Peeler and Hector Anchondo, while others have used the time away from the stage in other ways, honing their craft, or “shedding,” as jazz musicians would say. Many have been preparing new music for release, while others are itching for the opportunity to get back onstage. Social media provided new opportunities to connect with audiences. Singersongwriter Andrea Von Kampen shared a duet with her violin player Jessica Hanson. Dryden Thomas has been sharing previews of his upcoming album, playing multiple instruments and layering vocal harmonies to create elaborate TikToks. Ben Rasmussen, development director at classical music station KVNO, has been posting Irish folk tunes, “dueting” with himself on mandolin and guitar.
We asked established musicians to name emerging artists who have caught their attention. Some of the artists here have been working in the scene for several years but strive to challenge and even reinvent themselves.
As a singer-songwriter, I find myself inspired and motivated by these musicians. It takes tremendous drive to keep growing as an artist, especially at a time when live performance has been difficult, if not impossible. These artists have the ambition to keep pushing forward through a global crisis that has severely impacted the music industry—not just to survive, but to thrive.
This is just a small sample. The Omaha music scene is home to a wide variety of genres and artists, as is neighboring Lincoln. As venues continue to open, these are a handful of the artists to watch.
Bra dy We lls of Radio Jamz
A H
Aly Peeler is a ukulele-wielding mother of two boys. Since 2013, MPeeler has hosted one of Omaha’s longest-running open mic nights at the Down Under Lounge (formerly known as The Side Door Lounge). She loves to cultivate young and emerging talent, and is an award-winning songwriter in her own right.
H
Mesonjixx (Mary Lawson) honed her musical style of Afro-futuristic Experimental Subculture Soul in Chicago and returned to Nebraska in 2014 to find balance in her interconnected identities. In March last year, just before venues shut down, she opened for Kamasi Washington at the Slowdown with her trio.
Sandy Irwin was nominated by the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards (OEAAs) under the name Come Back Sandy. Now, she has reinvented herself and started a new project called SAND.
“She’s grown so much in the past couple years, and this project is my all-time favorite of hers,” Peeler said. “She recently shaved her head and I am here for it, too! Her lyrics are so powerful…SAND is literally just getting started.”
Peeler also pointed to Erin Mitchell, whose first band, Daisy Distraction, formed in honor of her friend Anna Abbott. Peeler noted that every project is different and “cooler than the last.” Mitchell’s latest endeavor, Urn, was nominated for 2020 Outstanding New Artist by the OEAAs. » Aly Peeler: facebook.com/people/Aly-Peeler/100038758213612/ » SAND: facebook.com/comebacksandymusic » Urn: facebook.com/musicbyurn
Héctor Anchondo is an award-winning blues guitarist. He started performing as the frontman of Anchondo, but felt drawn to the blues. He moved to Chicago for a year to immerse himself in its historic scene. He is also a co-organizer of Omaha’s In the Market for Blues Festival—alongside E3 Music Management—booking over 40 local, regional, and national bands at 12 downtown venues. She recommended Mars X. “They are an incredible producer, lyricist, singer, performer. I first heard their music in 2020 and am now a fan for life.” Mesonjixx is grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow alongside them here in Omaha. “All should tap in.”
Mesonjixx herself is exploring new avenues of creative expression. While she is still performing, she is also expanding into organizing, and others are noticing.
Amanda DeBoer Bartlett is a soprano singer, improviser, composer, and organizer, as well as founder of Quince Ensemble and Hasco Duo. In 2014, she started Omaha Under the Radar, an experimental performance festival. Bartlett noted that in addition to musical projects, Mesonjixx is “emerging as a brilliant curator and organizer with projects like Strange Fruit Femmes, Uplift+Elevate at the Union for Contemporary Art, projects with Charlotte Street in Kansas City, and more.” As a festival curator, Bartlett knows that organizing can be thankless work. “It’s an act of love for the community. I think we’ll feel the ripple effects from Mary’s work for a long time.” » Mesonjixx: mesonjixxmusic.com » Mars X: marsxtheplanet.bandcamp.com » Amanda DeBoer Bartlett: amandadeboer.com
“Grace Giebler is a special talent,” Anchondo said.
Like Mitchell, Giebler is a BluesEd alum. Anchondo served as a judge for the youth edition of the Blues Challenge in Omaha a few years ago. He remembers that Giebler and her band brought down the house with her phenomenal voice, refinement beyond her years, and wonderful stage presence.
Anchondo also mentioned Joseph Donnelly, “a star shining bright right out of the gate.” Not only does he have his own solo act, he tours with famed guitarist Kris Lager.
“He’s slaying that groove,” Anchondo said, adding that you should not miss the chance to see Donnelly play in person if given the opportunity.
This is high praise coming from Anchondo, who won the solo/duo category of the International Blues Challenge in 2020, in his third year performing at the Challenge in Memphis as the representative for the Blues Society of Omaha. » Hector Anchondo: hectoranchondo.com » Grace Giebler: gracemusiclive.com/home » Joseph Donnelly: facebook.com/josephdonnelly.716 Hard rock band Evandale has invited two bands to be part of their album release show later this year: The Party After and Gallivant. They have both been on the scene for a few years, but Evandale’s drummer, Ryan Lang, said their live shows are something to be seen. Fronted by Jared William Gottberg, The Party After is a three-piece group that takes its cues from ’70s blues-rock and ’90s alternative rock. “Jared really knows how to speak to the crowd and his genuine personality shows so much… cracking jokes and reacting to the fans,” Lang said.
He described Gallivant as straight-up talented. “If you’re into those bands where every band member can sing, play, and rock out at the same time, look no further.” In their current live show, they switch instruments between “shreddy but tasteful” solos.
Joseph Donnelly, guitarist mentioned by Hector Anchondo, is also a member of Gallivant. » Evandale: evandaleband.com » The Party After: facebook.com/PartyAfterBand » Gallivant: gallivantomaha.com
Grace Giebler
JJustin Strawstone, founder of Nice Enough Ent., has been doing great work for the hip-hop scene, both to support established artists and uplift young and emerging voices. He started as an artist in his own right, and three years ago, he shifted to the management and promotion side of the industry. Strawstone said he wanted young musicians to have better opportunities than he had. He started managing a few artists and building M local shows to expand his circle. He has become a connection point for regional and national artists coming to Omaha—but he makes sure to showcase Omaha artists whenever he can. His work led him to connect with King Iso, a hip-hop artist from Omaha who has been signed by Strange Music. Mitch Towne is a keyboardist and touring musician, regarded as the “go-to” Hammond organist in the Midwest. He has performed with jazz/R&B artist and Grammy-winning producer Terrace Martin; jazz artists Ryan Kisor, Dave Stryker, and Adam Larson; blues guitarists Eric Gales and Ben Poole; and multi-platinum artist Aloe Blacc. Towne noted two players on the rise: drummer David Hawkins and guitarist Myles Jasnowski. “David Hawkins has honed his craft the old-fashioned way: hard work, apprenticeship, and constantly striving to play with musicians better than he is. This is how jazz musicians did it in the old days and, starting in high school by hauling drums for jazz great Dana Murray and literally taking notes in a notebook at his gigs, David has developed into a startlingly talented and versatile drummer who is building his reputation both locally and regionally.” Hawkins has performed with Jocelyn, Sebastian Lane, and many other local and regional jazz musicians. “Myles is a triple threat: fantastic singer, excellent songwriter, and a phenomenal guitarist. There doesn’t seem to be a ceiling to what he’s capable of.”
“His message [is] absolutely beautiful,” Strawstone said. “All you have to do is go to one of his shows and see how much it matters to want to root for him.”
King Iso sold out a mixed-genre show at The Waiting Room before leaving for a tour in which he shared a bill with Omaha artists Snake Lucci, Taebo Tha Truth, and Jay Influential. His music spreads a message about mental health awareness.
Strawstone noted that he has a lot of respect for those who have waited out of safety precautions, but he is excited to see more live music. » Nice Enough Ent.: facebook.com/NiceEnoughEnt » King Iso: facebook.com/TheRealKingIso Based in Lincoln, Jasnowski has played with Mesonjixx and Chad Stoner Band, among others, as well as his own band, who opened for Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal at the Zoo Bar in 2019. He sometimes joins the house band at The Jewell.
H JJocelyn got her start at open mics and songwriter nights, and has since risen to national recognition with her positive, empowering music and her powerful stage presence. She stepped into the national spotlight in 2017 with her appearance on Celebrity Undercover Boss with songwriter Darius Rucker of Hootie & The Blowfish. In early 2018, she signed with major record label BMG and has since released her debut full-length album. In 2020, she was selected as the Capitol District Musician in Residence. She said that Radio Jamz is one to watch. Radio Jamz is a hiphop and rap duo with Brady Wells (of Domestic Blend) and Ishma Valenti (formerly of AZP). “Brady sings the smooth hooky melodies while Ishma spits the cool rap lines.”
“He’s adept at not only his own music, but he is also a first-call sideman with some of the area’s best jazz, gospel, and soul artists.” » Mitch Towne: facebook.com/mitch.towne.7 » David Hawkins: facebook.com/david.d.hawkins.9 » Myles Jasnowski: facebook.com/mylesjasnowskimusic Having been a performing artist since 2012, I’ve had the honor of sharing the stage with several of the musicians mentioned here, and many others. Aly Peeler welcomed me to her open mic when I was starting out, alongside Jocelyn and other young songwriters. I remember jamming with Jack Hotel at Folk Alliance International in Kansas City in 2018, in a small hotel room with musicians from around the world.
They have been working on an EP, and they performed at The Mint in L.A. last month.
Jocelyn is also mentoring young artist Izzy, a 13-year-old singer-songwriter, through the Midlands Music Group. Izzy is currently working on her first EP.
“For now, you might find her at an open mic or two at the Down Under or other venues. At some point she will open for me, so be looking for Izzy in the future.” » Jocelyn: jocelynmusic.com » Radio Jamz: radiojamz.band Many artists give back to our audiences and the wider Omaha community through arts-related volunteer work. Omaha Girls Rock brings together femme and nonbinary artists from around the city to empower youth through music. Several of the artists mentioned here have volunteered for OGR, myself included. Looking west, Lincoln Calling has been doing great work to amplify the voices of local artists, especially those from historically underrepresented communities.
A lot of us in the Omaha music scene wear multiple hats as performers and organizers, or as songwriters and bandmates. Most of us do our own marketing, booking, and outreach as well. It is an interconnected and collaborative community. We are at our strongest when we’re supporting each other—whether attending shows, playing together, or just spreading the word about new releases. That support has grown during the pandemic as we realize how precious and beautiful live performance is. » Virginia Kathryn: virginiakathryn.com
Omahans View Collecting Art As a Way to Celebrate Cultural Voices
Photography by bill sitzmann Design by matt wieczorek
iIn her article “Collecting: An Urge that’s Hard to Resist,” psychologist Shirley Mueller reported that 33 to 40% of Americans practice the art of collecting. The reasons that people collect things, however, are varied. Mueller explained that some people are motivated by the thrill of the chase; others are motivated by the chance to participate in the social network that’s created in the pursuit of a common goal; still others are motivated by the thought of being a part of history via the preservation of culturally important items.
If Omahans Russ Locke and Glenda Stone were asked which of these motivations best defined their passion for collecting, they would have a hard time deciding. These Omaha residents and master collectors have been in pursuit of the treasures to be found at estate sales, antique shops, and thrift stores for over 30 years, and show no signs of stopping.
Locke and Stone, married for the past 10 years, partly trace the love of collecting to their childhoods. Locke grew up on the northern edge of Stanton, Nebraska, and remembers the magic of playing in creeks and discovering tools and arrowheads buried in the running waters, while Stone traces her love of collecting back to a single object: a mink poodle brooch. ‘‘My mother had a mink pin,” Stone explained. “It was so old-school. It had a chenille pipe cleaner element that I just loved. I would have to ask permission to play with it.” As an adult, Stone started collecting mink jewelry. “A lot of the stuff dates back to the things we experienced as children, wanting to reconnect to that magic.”
The element of adventure that treasure hunting offers appeals to the couple as well. They cite the thrill of finding something they had not seen, or didn’t know existed, as a major draw. As for the geographic limit to their treasure hunting adventures, Stone explained, “There isn’t any.” They love using antique shops, auctions, estate sales, and thrift stores as the lenses through which they learn about new places and people.
“Part of the fun is going into an antique store or thrift store in a different part of the country. You learn about a place from that. And then when you find something special, there’s your connection to that place.” Whether it’s discovering a priceless painting in an antique shop in Santa Fe, or coming home from a farm sale a couple hours away with a kitten hidden under their hood (they kept him, and named him Dexter), Locke and Stone are always ready for the thrill of the search. “Some people are just hunters and gatherers,” Stone explained.
The Art of Donel Keeler Some collectors have items that are not only important to them, but to the culture at large. Some of the most important pieces among Locke and Stone’s collections are their pieces of Donel Keeler’s artwork. Keeler was a Native American artist from Nebraska who was an enrolled Crow Creek Dakota member with Northern Ponca ancestry. Keeler passed away in June 2020, but his importance as an artist has been acknowledged by many. The Donel Keeler Indigenous Arts Festival is held by UNO’s Office of Multicultural Affairs every November, and in 2018, Keeler granted the State of Nebraska permission to use his artwork on a license plate honoring Native Americans in Nebraska. Not only did Keeler gift the state with his artwork, he chose not to capitalize much on the honor, instead requesting that a lot of his proceeds from the plates be added to the Native American Scholarship and Leadership Fund.
Locke and Stone had always had a great love and respect for Native American art, so when they wandered into the basement of an antique store in North Omaha several years ago, two framed pieces of ledger art immediately attracted Locke’s eye. Locke didn’t know who’d made them, but he thought they were amazing. “Oh my God, I love these,” he remembers thinking. He bought them right away.
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“We enjoy being able to support Native artists, and we have a great respect for their heritage and the fact they are trying to express their heritage and way of life.” -Glenda Stone
“When I researched them, it got even better. I still get chills,” Locke explained.
The more Locke and Stone learned about Keeler, the bigger fans they became. They kept an eye out for Keeler’s work and then, at the 2014 Fort Omaha Intertribal Memorial Powwow, Locke and Stone had the opportunity to buy an entire lot of Keeler’s artwork—close to 30 prints. When they viewed the collection, they saw it as an amazing opportunity. According to Locke, “It was like a treasure chest opened.”
The next year, they met Keeler in person, and their respect for the artist grew even more. “He was so nice, so personal. I could have talked to him for hours,” Locke said.
Gretchen Carroll, the UNO Multicultural Outreach Coordinator at UNO involved in coordinating the Keeler Indigenous Arts Festival, explained that Keeler was often personable. “[Keeler’s] connection to the community and his style of art was special, and he was a special person. We named the festival after him because we wanted to remember him and his art. He was a friend to a lot of us here, and was a huge supporter of UNO and the students here.”
While Stone and Locke love the style of Native American art, collecting Keeler’s work isn’t simply about pleasure. They see it as a way to participate in the preservation of important cultural voices as well. Stone, an artist herself, explained, “We enjoy being able to support Native artists, and we have a great respect for their heritage and the fact they are trying to express their heritage and way of life.”
Those who attend arts festivals and antique stores might bump into Locke and Stone on their next adventure. Chances are, the couple are keeping their eyes peeled fora Keeler.
Visit unomaha.edu for more information on the Donel Keeler Indigenous Arts Festival.
