The Hot Shops is proud to reveal a new mural, honoring the hard-working artists and creatives that help make Omaha a great place to live. The We Don’t Coast mentality means working together to create a better place for everyone and the more than 80 artists at the Hot Shops do just that. These makers share their time and talents to help support and educate others in this living museum. The Hot Shops is a place to not only dream, but also to turn your dreams into reality by exploring, creating and sharing.
Sponsored by the Greater Omaha Chamber, Jenna Johnson was commissioned to create the piece located on the south side of the Art Center.
The artists featured in this work are:
Alex Reza – Violin Maker
Paula Wallace – Painter, Printmaker
Tim Barry – Ceramics Artist
Ed Fennell – Glass Artist
Jennifer Young – Stationery Artist
Andre’ Watts, Painter, Potter, Educator with his daughter
The purpose of ‘We Create’ is to encourage my viewers to reach out and connect with people around them.
Watered down acrylic paint is used to build up the layers of skin on each figure. This step is important is as it creates a basis for individuality; how we are viewed on the outside. I paint people I know so I have a deeper understanding of what I am painting. It is the connections I have made that influences the work that I do.
Hot Shops Art Center is a platform for emerging artists, such as myself, to grow in their crafts, and it acts as a direct portal to creative community seekers. Ideas are not only encouraged, but they are supported.
Omaha has room for any willing artist to make a mark which is an opportunity we are taking advantage of.
Meet the Artist
Since 2012, Jenna Johnson has used acrylic paint and added objects to envelop her viewers into her over-sized paintings. She currently finds comfort in working large-scale, but also focuses on applying precise textures encouraging the viewers to approach the art from all angles. Believing vitality lies within strangers learning from one another, Jenna’s focus on making artwork that brings differing generations and cultures together to encourage that conversation.
The first five years of her career consisted mainly of commissioned work. Since 2016 she has begun focusing her efforts on creating more personal work to portray life as a “twenty-five-year-old, female artist living in Omaha, Nebraska”; Propelling through the stereotypes that come with the territory.
Her work can currently be viewed at the Hot Shops Art Center in downtown Omaha, as well as varying business in the surrounding area.