The Portrait on the Wall

24th and Grant St. looks a little different today. There’s a larger-than-life portrait of a familiar Omaha face spanning across the side of a building looking North down 24th Street. Over the course of two weeks, the mural came to life. If you look close, every wrinkle, every hair, every fiber of clothing, is painted as though one were looking at an actual photograph.

Nebraska Now - Leading By Example is a mural campaign designed to enhance Nebraska's cultural landscape through large-scale, hyperrealistic murals of influential figures across the state, including community leaders, athletes, and artists. Led by artists Nick Flatt and Scott Drickey, the project combines Nick’s international mural experience with Scott’s photography and deep connection to Nebraska’s heritage. With the slogan "Leading by Example," the two aim to inspire communities by showcasing leaders on the walls of buildings who embody the spirit and values of Nebraska, starting in North Omaha and expanding statewide to celebrate and invigorate the State’s rich cultural tapestry. Their first mural is not only a tribute to Preston Love Jr.’s significant contributions to Omaha but also a symbol of a commitment to enriching Nebraska’s cultural and civic landscape.

Nick and Scott met at an exhibition in Benson and quickly found familiar experiences working on art and design projects all over the world. With a shared work ethic that combines taste and tenacity with embracing the subjects that are in front of them, a collaborative artistic and business partnership, nick / drick, was born.

After meeting for lunch one day at the Fair Deal Cafe, the two were inspired to scout for canvases on building walls that could incorporate Scott’s photos with Nick’s hyperrealistic painting style. They developed a short reel (video) depicting murals as they would appear on what were now empty walls, and soon approached Mr. Love Jr. offering up their inaugural mural. Starting with a portrait session of Love, within days, Nick and Scott began the project with Nick painting as Scott documented the process. By the end of May, the “portrait” of Love was on the wall.

nick / drick see their first mural and vision for future murals as a complement to the exisiting mural art around the North Omaha community. Scott noted, “As an Omaha native, the art and heart of our community inspires us to honor and enhance the people and the places as we live and see them every day. Our hope is to provide a lasting tribute to those who lead by example. Keep your eyes peeled for the next installation.”

Please join us to for light fare and drinks at the nick / drick Preston Love Jr. mural unveiling on Thursday, June 7 from 4 - 7 pm. The celebration will take place in front of the mural outside the builidng at 2311 North 24th Street. Looking forward to seeing you there.

The name Nebraska was derived from the Indigenous word Ñí Brásge (nee-BRATHE-ga) meaning “flat water.” With nearly 80,000 miles of rivers surrounded by plains and Sandhills, Nebraska has a unique and ever-changing landscape. That landscape is being celebrated in Nebraska: Flatwater, an immersive video installation produced by Gallery 1516, directed by Adam Larsen and co-directed by Scott Drickey.

This exhibition explores the beauty of the Nebraskan landscape throughout the four seasons and includes scenes of blossoming spring flowers, autumn wheat fields, roaming bison, and more. Nebraska: Flatwater also incorporates music by Nebraska performers, giving viewers a full experience of our state’s artistic talents.

It was an honor to curate and produce an abstract exhibition of Mike Nesbit and Tom Prinz's work. I directed and produced an original film content piece that was projected during the exhibition. The exhibition was well received and moving people brings great joy to the hard work involved in producing unique installation exhibits.

Midwestern Abstract is a unique glimpse inside the artwork of Tom Prinz and Mike Nesbit; their abstract, frenetic process of creating art at their Little Italy studio. The Little Italy studio is a playground where Prinz creates complex collages while Nesbit creates lithograph prints inspired by Midwestern landscapes inspired by Nebraska's natural beauty. Scott Drickey, a photographer, pre-visualized a moving picture component to accentuate the exhibition with the intent of projecting immersive; creating white projection light on the actual artwork as the originally filmed reel plays for eleven minutes. Scott included his Son, Miles Dean Drickey to take the viewer through the artists' playground.