Omaha Exploration

The Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement completes the Dick and Mary Holland Campus, fulfilling a long-held vision for a downtown home for performing arts entertainment, education, and community engagement.

I got a chance to check it out during Omaha Performing Arts’ Community Day event on April 11. Located on the south side of 11th and Dodge Streets, the space is designed for all ages including adults and families, providing opportunities to take classes, explore new art forms, and connect with the performing arts in a hands-on manner. The intent was to build a structure with large windows offering views of downtown, including the renovated Gene Leahy Mall. The exterior walls of glass pull in natural light and connect the building to the structures that surround it. The center is named for Tenaska, an Omaha-based energy company, in recognition of a principal gift.

Inside the four-story, 100,000-square-foot building are classrooms, studios, event and rehearsal halls, and an outdoor garden with views of Gene Leahy Mall. It houses Omaha Performing Arts’ expanding education and community engagement programs, with camps and classes in Broadway and theater, dance and movement, expressive arts, family and preschool programming, and music, including hip hop. It also offers space for corporate and private events, including weddings. The center was designed by Ennead Architects in collaboration with Holland Basham Architects and built by Kiewit Building Group.

While Omaha Performing Arts serves more than 100,000 students each year, it was at capacity, with student overflow in the stairwells and lobbies necessitating additional space. According to the Nebraska Examiner, the nonprofit generates an economic impact of more than $61 million each year through live music, jazz, dance, comedy, various camps, and community engagement events.

The Dick and Mary Holland Campus sits on both sides of Dodge Street between 11th and 13th Streets. The other two venues are the Holland Performing Arts Center and Steelhouse Omaha. All three, as well as the Orpheum Theater, are owned and managed by Omaha Performing Arts.

Over the years, Dick and Mary Holland offered philanthropic support benefiting children, education, the arts, and the environment. It was Dick Holland’s vision that led to both Steelhouse Omaha and the Tenaska Center.

The Tenaska Center sits on the former site of Frankie Pane’s bar and banquet facility, which was inadvertently destroyed when the building to its west, the Swanson Foods plant, was razed to make way for the Holland Performing Arts Center in 2002. This is a subject we will explore later.

The Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement is open now. I’d suggest checking it out if the programs appeal to you and your family.

Sources

• $108M Omaha facility for performing arts education opens, boosted by $9M in public grants • Nebraska Examiner
• A New Stage Is Set: A First Look at the Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement – Omaha Magazine
• Omaha’s $108 million performing art education facility opens, with $9 million in public grants – rivercityomaha.com
• Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement | Classes, Camps & More
• Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement opens in Omaha
• About the Holland Foundation
• Omaha World-Herald archives