OMA ARTalks
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts
724 S. 12th Street
Omaha, NE 68102
Explore Bemis's current exhibitions from the perspective of Omaha-based artists, creatives, and community leaders. Speakers will share how specific works of art in each exhibition have deeply resonated with them.
This season, we welcome:
Beaufield Berry, Executive Director, Iowa Abortion Access Fund
Sara Gentzler, Nebraska Reporter, Flatwater Free Press
Leah Wambui Keinama, Director of Civic Journalism, Nebraska Journalism Trust
Learn more about the exhibitions: Miatta Kawinzi: An Alphabet of Unfolding and MOTHER TIME: Measuring ourselves within the landscape
Admission is free; ticket reservations are encouraged.
Beaufield Berry is a writer, producer, and cultural organizer who lives at the intersection of art, activism, and community. She is the Executive Director of the Iowa Abortion Access Fund where she helps ensure women across the state have access to reproductive care.
A Midwest-based playwright, novelist, and podcaster, Beaufield’s work explores Black history, joy, survival, and truth-telling through bold, often genre-bending storytelling. Her plays have been developed and performed across the country, including at the Great Plains Theater Conference, the O’Neill, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and beyond.
She is also the founder of Good Mom, a lifestyle brand and media platform celebrating authenticity, humor, and community, and the co-founder of Agribella Orbis, a nonprofit dedicated to building connection through narrative. Whether on stage, on the page, or behind the scenes, Beaufield is known for creating spaces that are honest, electric, and just a little bit dangerous—in the best way.
She's engaged to Terrence, five kids, no pets. All Aries.
Sara Gentzler is a mom to 4-year-old twins and a reporter at the Flatwater Free Press. She talks to people across Nebraska to understand how government decisions affect them, grounding hot-button issues in real-life impact. She’s written about Nebraska’s prison, healthcare and juvenile justice systems, its child care crisis and the ripple effects of its abortion policy changes. Her stories have won state-level awards for investigative journalism.
Leah Wambui Keinama is a mother of two, home birth advocate, and writer whose work explores the intersections of motherhood, regenerative agriculture, food systems, and children’s relationships with the outdoors. Her professional journey began in the software industry as a systems engineer and integrator, where she led the design and deployment of complex systems from inception to completion. She later transitioned into nonprofit and community-centered work focused on soil health, regenerative agriculture, food accessibility, and resilient communities. Across both her professional and personal work, Leah is deeply committed to building networks of care, fostering meaningful connection, and exploring how nurturing of children, land, and community shapes collective futures.
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Contemporary Arts
724 S. 12th Street
Omaha, NE 68102
402.341.7130
info@bemiscenter.org