Hot Shops Art Center

An art epicenter in Omaha. gallery and workspace in huge building. Creative people and animals and wacky Stairs. Adjacent to burgeoning downtown scene/​living spaces.

After biking by with curiosity many times over the past few months, I finally crossed paths with an open house night. We were just sitting there on our bikes from a distance watching a group of people spectating a glass blowing demo when we were beckoned over by the artist. They invited us into the shops for a tour through the gallery and the workshop space. The main workshop spaces are reserved for ceramics, iron/​welding/​metal, and glass blowing. Tim showed us some of the casts and pieces that will soon be finished and distributed to various new buildings and businesses popping up in the north downtown district soon. I found all this fascinating and so neat. Tim, as ceramics pro, showed me some large pieces of his pottery that he makes for Benson Brewery to ferment beer. Next was a hundred handmade glass accent light decors for the Rochester, the newest loft popping up in North downtown district. i found out they teach classes on metal, ceramics, and glass blowing which I may venture to take sometime in the near future. Upstairs is private spaces for artists.
If you’re interested in the production of art at all, this is a very cool place to check out. Everyone here was beyond friendly and really interested in sharing their craft.

The glassblowing workshop with Ed was awesome! He was so helpful, down-​to-​earth and patient with my boyfriend and I. I will definitely go back!

Wow! I went to the crystal forge area, where glass is fused, shaped by glass blowers.
Ed, the person whom, started it all, spoke to me on great length & gave me, the name of a glass blower who could help me find my treasure or more like create my treasure.
I saw pottery art studio, stained glass studio, many galleries& more on the 2& 3 floor, which I didn’t get 2 see, but there are many artist here for you to come & see their work or learn a craft form. Very interesting!
I will return for a full day visit.

Hot Shots Art Center is a great place to find Omaha artists coming together and working in their favorite mediums; glass, metal, clay, textiles, graphics, photos, paint, wood, gems, etc. AI little something for everyone from the smallest knick knack to large metal outdoor sculptures,
The gallery was converted from the Old Serta Mattress Factory. There are over 80 artists working out of Hot Shots. The Gallery is located several blocks north of the Old Market directly behind the Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn Hotels.
A great place to go and check out the local art scene and pick up a special gift for that hard to please person who loves to get something original.
Oh, and don’t be deterred by the building… which looks rather plain from the outside. Get inside and you are in for a pleasant surprise as you move from studio to studio finding interesting things around every corner and on all three (3) floors.

Part art gallery and part working studio, the Hot Shops Art Center is a fascinating place to spend some time in Omaha!
This huge old brick-​and-​beam building is filled with some amazing artwork in a variety of media, including paintings, photography, sculpture, and glass. The really interesting thing, though, is that it is a working studio– or more accurately a warren of MANY working studios. When I visited, several of the artists were busy at their art.
The whole place was in the process of preparing for the bi-​annual open house, which occurs on the first weekend of December and May. The effect was that just about every available space was filled with fresh works of art, turning the old industrial structure into one big gallery. Cool!

This is a spectacular place to visit. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but once inside you will find studios on 3 spacious floors with working artists in each. The artists range from painters and photographers to potters, glass blowers, and wood workers. There are two galleries in front with rotating art which has on occasion included the work of local grade schools.
The artists are all friendly and more than willing to talk to you about their trade, and if your timing is right, you’ll get to see them work. In addition to all there is to see, many of the artists offer workshops and classes.
If you live in Omaha and have not made it there yet, it is a must see. They have 2 open houses a year — one in May and the other in December. But no need to wait for an open house because they are open to visitors 7 days a week.
Don’t miss this one.

Robinwood Custom Framers does a superlative job. Warm and inviting space. Friendly, professional service. Excellent aesthetic taste.

I’m reviewing for the classes, well the life drawing class anyways. One of the artists offers 8 week classes (or drop in) for 2.5 hours a session. The models rotate fairly often.
Per your fellow artistes, a variety of peeps show up; Some are artists keeping their craft in check and others of us simply enjoy drawing the figure and like myself, appear to be less formally trained. Its a nice little community.

Wow! What a wonderful place to spend some time looking at interesting works of art from different media and perspectives.
Basically, this is many different art studios in one building. Many artists actually working on their art right as you are looking at the pieces they have created.
The bottom floor (of 3 floors) is comprised of 4 different «hot» shops — Bronze Sculpting, Blacksmithing, Pottery, and Glass Blowing. The second floor and thrid floor are filled to brimming with various other artist and media that don’t need an oven.
We were working our way to the front doors and the gentleman working at Bruning Sculpture invited us in through the bay doors right where the work happens. We met the artist Les Bruning who took time away from his current project to describe how he worked and how he makes his inspired sculptures. He walk with us through many of the pieces he is currently working on and then showed us to the gallery where his art is. Then the gentleman who invited us in took the time to describe how the casting for the bronze sculptures is done. It was a wonderful learning experience.
We then worked our way through the bottom floor and saw the blacksmithing forge — Loken Forge. The artist was not in, but you were still able to walk through and admire the beautiful art work.
The Crystal Forge (glass blowing) had some beautiful glass pieces on display and one of the artists was working a piece in the forge as we walked around admiring the works.
In the pottery studio, we caught one of the artist just shutting down the kiln. He was very nice and took the time to show us the hand built firing kiln for the large pieces and discussed how the larger pottery is done.
We walked around on the other floors and got a chance to see some very nice pieces of art from many artists. We also got to meet with some of the artist and chat. Every hallway is a gallery!
They also have some very nice gallery spaces that would be great for a private show or function (I do not know if this is something they offer, I just thought the space would be nice for something like that).
One artist we met explained that the spaces are for rent so any interested artist can get a sapce and all the artist help each other out.
It was a great experience! If you go, be sure to go into the studios — Randi explained that if the door is open, then the artist would probably love to talk with you — and engage the artists as they are willing to share with you and I think this is what makes the place so special!
The really cool thing was that as we strolled, we found pieces for ever price range that would definitely fit nicely into any art collection!

interesting, informal art center that’s comprised of several different galleries and a glass blowing shop. worth a look see, got the impression that the art rotates, although i’m not sure how frequently. not too far from urban outfitters and slowdown.