The Omaha arts community is constantly changing and growing, and it took a major step forward Thursday when the Tenaska Center for Art Engagement opened in downtown Omaha. The building’s main purpose is to promote education for the arts, as its classrooms and performance studios allow Omaha’s youth to learn about, practice, and perform art.
The opening completed the Dick & Mary Holland campus, as the Tenaska Center joins the Holland Performing Arts Center and Steelhouse Omaha to help push Omaha’s performing arts scene into the future.
The three-story building is comprised of performance halls, classrooms, and practice studios to help students learn more about more about the performing arts. The Tenaska Center will offers courses and classes for Broadway and theater, hip hop, dance and movement, music, and more. It will also host summer camps and provide family and preschool classes.
Students will also learn the behind-the-scenes aspect of productions, giving them a 360-degree understanding of everything that goes into a performance.
And performances at the Tenaska Center will be open to the public, creating a full circle of learning, performing, and community enjoyment.
Since 2005, Omaha Performing Arts has served more than one million people through arts education and community engagement initiatives. The Tenaska Center will allow them to expand that education, as Joan Squires, the President of Omaha Performing Arts, said the Tenaska Center will allow OPA to impact more than 100,000 students each year.
The Tenaska Center combines flexible classrooms for dance, music, and multidisciplinary arts with light-filled collaborative spaces. It’s also connected to the Holland Center, creating a seamless integration between the two venues.
