Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts was founded by artists
Jun Kaneko, Tony Hepburn, Lorne Falke and
Ree Schonlau in 1981. In 1984,
Ree Schonlau established a consortium consisting of the
City of Omaha, the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, private and corporate foundations and the Mercer family, who owned the vacant Bemis Bag Building. The structure had originally been built as a branch of the
Nave & McCord Mercantile Company.
Locations Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts was formerly located at the
Bemis Omaha Bag Company Building, 614 South 11th Street, which was severely damaged in a fire in 1999. Today, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts is located in the old McCord-Brady & Co. building on 12th and Leavenworth. == See also ==