OMA ARTalks: Auction Edition

Ariel Panowicz is a Photographer and Creative Director based in Omaha, NE. Her work lives in a rich, colorful land, highlighting vibrant people and places. After receiving her BFA in Photography from The Art Institute of Colorado, she returned to Omaha to plant her roots in an effort to help build the creative community in her hometown. Through her creative direction, styling, and unique location scouting, she aims to showcase the beauty that can be found in seemingly mundane moments and places. She believes in the power of photography's ability to remind us we have more in common than we are made to believe. A visual thread weaving humanity together. Her love for community led her to open up Luli Creative House, a rentable creative studio and event space, in 2022. Luli is dedicated to providing an inclusive, safe, joyful environment for the community to come together to create and connect with each other.

Dan Crane is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice combines drawing, digital sketching, screen printing, collage, woodworking, and appliqué, often exploring themes of color, shape, utility, fan art, reverential subversion, time travel, and general mischief. Rooted in play and experimentation, Crane’s work moves fluidly between studio production, collaboration, curation, teaching, and grassroots organizing. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions throughout the Midwest and has received fellowship, grant, and collaboration opportunities from organizations including Public Media Institute (Chicago), Charlotte Street Foundation (Kansas City, MO), Joslyn Art Museum, the University of Nebraska, Opera Omaha, Kent Bellows Studio, KANEKO, and Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts.

Bart Vargas is a Visual Artist, Educator, and Advocate from Bellevue, NE. He received his BFA from the University of Nebraska Omaha and his MFA at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and his work can be found in many collections throughout the world. Vargas lives in Omaha, NE, where he publishes a weekly list of local Arts, Culture, and Entertainment events on social media and operates an international studio with his wife, Bekah Jerde. Vargas serves as a Professor and Chair of Visual Arts/Graphic Arts Program at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, IA, as well as on several local boards of non-profit organizations.

Shiri Phillips is a painter and mixed media artist based in Omaha, NE, known for her vibrant, energetic works that blend painterly technique with a graphic, pixelated style. In addition to her signature impasto paintings, she creates woven works using hand-painted and recycled paper, which she cuts and weaves into layered, dimensional compositions. Drawing inspiration from the Mediterranean and Southern California landscapes where she spent her childhood, her work is defined by bold color, repetition, and a deep connection to place and memory. Her work has been exhibited widely at galleries and art fairs across the United States, including in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and Austin, TX. She is represented by Artspace Warehouse (Los Angeles), Kunstwarenhaus (Zurich, Switzerland), Modern Arts Midtown (Omaha, NE), and PxP Contemporary, and is also featured on Saatchi Art and TurningArt.