Artists Talk in the Gene Leahy Mall Sculpture Garden at The RiverFront.

Two legendary sculptors, Bruce Beasley and James Surls talk in person about their artistic philosophies and innovations among their newly installed works at the new Gene Leahy Mall Sculpture Garden at The RiverFront.

Join KANEKO and MECA on Saturday, July 2nd, from 11 AM to 12 PM for this special event with world-renowned sculpture artists Bruce Beasley and James Surls. Each artist’s work will be on display within the Sculpture Garden. In addition, a unique panel discussion will allow the artists to talk about their work and interact with the community.

This very special event will be held downtown Omaha, Nebraska, at Gene Leahy Mall at The RiverFront, at the Northwest end of the Mall, among the sculptures. The audience can sit near the stage and on the west lawn. Admission is free and open to the public; RSVP to secure your spot.

Panel In The Park: Featured Artists

James Surls is an internationally recognized artist and one of the most preeminent living artists in the United States. His sculptures, drawings, and prints, which reflect his unique sensibility to natural forms, are in major art museums and public and private collections throughout the world. His piece “Walking Flower Times the Power of Five”, 2010, powder-coated steel, 14’5”H x 14’5”W x 5’5”D will be on display at the Sculpture Garden for three years with a solo KANEKO Gallery Exhibition: March 2023 – August 2023.

Bruce Beasley has experimented with and continues to explore various sculptural mediums ranging from cast aluminum to Lucite to bronze to granite to wood. He has had numerous solo exhibitions, participated in group shows, and is represented in museum collections throughout the United States and Europe. His piece “Aeolis 7”, 2020, stainless steel 13’H x 65”W x 51”D will also be on display at the Sculpture Garden for three years including a solo KANEKO Gallery Exhibition: September 2024 – May 2025.

Other Artists on display (2022-2025)

Richard Hunt
KANEKO Exhibition: Oct 7, 2022 – Feb 5, 2023
Linda Fleming
KANEKO Exhibition: Sept 2023 – Feb 2024
John Clement
KANEKO Exhibition: Mar 2024 – Aug 2024

Gene Leahy Mall at The RiverFront Public Art Program 

KANEKO formed an internal curatorial committee of knowledgeable experts in the field of sculpture to craft and facilitate the ongoing public art program. This project places the work of the five artists in designated sites within the Gene Leahy Mall (GLM) and Sculpture Garden in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, all of which will rotate every three years. KANEKO worked with GLM stakeholders to provide curatorial guidance in the selection of individual works by noteworthy artists, assistance with contractual requirements, installation oversight, and community engagement programming to complement and enhance the experience. An enormous undertaking, establishing a public program of this scale that ordinarily takes many years to complete took KANEKO just one year to implement due to the cumulative hard work and vested efforts of community members, businesses, and stakeholders to see the shared vision of a community space that inspires innovation and mission to explore the creative process as part of our daily lives through to fruition.

MECA & The RiverFront Sculpture Park