Public transportation systems often get a bad rap. People think they are dirty, unsafe or all around questionable. However, Heather and Jameson Hooton, along with some help from the Omaha Creative Institute, are on a mission to prove these stereotypes wrong. They plan to show the Omaha area and beyond the faces of the Metro bus lines in the exhibit “Conversa- tions on a Bus” that opens tonight at 6 p.m. at the recently renovated Metro Bus Headquarters at 22nd and Cuming streets here in Omaha. The event is free and refreshments will be provided.
Photos of 20 veterans of the Metro bus route will be accompanied by their stories in the exhibit. Published poet, author and professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Sarah McKinstry Brown helped to weave the stories of the riders in with the photographs taken by Heather and Jameson, who will be present at the opening to answer questions of aspiring photog- raphers as well as any visitors to the open house. The exhibit opening will be followed by an after party at the House of Loom which is also open to the public free of charge.
Executive director of the Omaha Creative Institute Susan Thomas describes the work of Heather and Jameson as a “sociological endeavor, because people have assumptions about who rides the bus, but it’s not always true,” as well as an “interesting collaboration between two types of artists, a creative writer and photographers.” Thomas said she believes that the photos and stories of the bus riders will bring light to the importance of public transportation.
For those who are unable to attend the opening of the gallery, the exhibit will be in the Metro bus headquarters for three to four weeks before moving to the Metro bus stops in Bellevue at the end of September and Council Bluffs in February.
Omaha Creative Institute works with art- ists to build an audience for the creativity of art- ists and to help them expose their work to the public. Arts & Sciences senior Mary McGroarty, who works with the institute, along with another Creighton student and recent Creighton University alumna, Becky Haworth, said they believe the exhibit will expose Creighton stu-dents to a new side of Omaha.
“I haven’t met many students at Creighton who use the metro system,” McGroarty said. “This opening gives students the chance to not only learn about the Metro system, but to also see how preconceptions can be misleading by reading the stories of the riders.”
The Omaha Creative Institute worked with Heather and Jameson, as well as Brown, managing the project and assisted in fundraising to allow the exhibit to be free to the public.
“There’s so much great artwork and people don’t know how to get it out there,” Thomas said. “In this project, Omaha Creative Institute’s role is to help raise funds and help artists share their work.”
Although the institute does not have open positions for internships at this time, according to Thomas, positions could be available as early as next summer. Students with passions in the arts and experience with finance or business are encouraged to be on the lookout for applica- tions on the website omahacreativeinstitute.org.
“I saw a job posting for OCI on Jobs for Jays last spring,” McGroarty said. “I remem- bered Susan coming into one of my classes for my Social Entrepreneurship minor and giving a short presentation on [Omaha Creative Institute] the previous semester. A year later when I saw a posting for an internship, I snatched the opportunity.”
“Because Creighton is such an important part of the North downtown community, we’d love to have as many attend as possible,” Thomas said.
Future events for the institute include encaustic workshops in the Lied Education Center for the Arts as well as glass blowing and begin- ning Ukulele classes. A full schedule of events can be found at the Omaha Creative Institute’s website.