Petshop is a shared creative space in Benson with galleries, studios, offices, and event space. In 2023 Petshop hosted 11 exhibitions. Here is a review of the 2023 Petshop Gallery Season. Photos by Katera Brown. 
HUMAN
First Friday February 3rd
Human was a show curated by Alyssa Schmitt. The show displayed works from local artists that reflect the human experience. The exhibition created a dialogue between the curated works, connecting the dots between viewing their respective self, others, and the absence of subjects embodying a space. The perspectives of each artist offered multiple facets of the individual interpretation of being human.
The show also featured The Blue Chair Project, an installation and performance by Alyssa Schmitt. Utilizing color and body language, this collection of portraits aims to capture a likeness to a person while still maintaining anonymity. The blue chair offers a space to sit and allow yourself to be depicted in the specific color that represents you. Attendees are able to select a panel and choose a time slot to sit in the chair as a subject for a painting. Upon completion, the portrait will be rehung in its original spot to remain for the rest of the exhibition. When the show ends on March 31st, the paintings will be returned to each subject. Each painting will cost 40$ and take approximately 20 minutes.
Featured artists included:
Alex Beeson, Hana Brock, Yaunjun Chen, Indigo Gilmore, Parker Herout, Laine Knowles, Sophie Manzitto, Artur Melika, Alyssa Schmitt, Jo Young
Alex Beeson, Hana Brock, Yaunjun Chen, Indigo Gilmore, Parker Herout, Laine Knowles, Sophie Manzitto, Artur Melika, Alyssa Schmitt, Jo Young
Voices of Choice
First Friday March 3rd
Nebraskans for Abortion Access and BFF Omaha joined together to advocate for abortion access & awareness in rural Nebraska through local artist-designed billboards. The project, Voices of Choice, created advocacy, identified available resources, and spread awareness for abortion access in Nebraska, particularly among rural communities.
Voices of Choice featured original works by local artists Anthony T. Peña, Oria Simonini, Kim Darling, Nash Bellows, Samantha Dunne, Daly Chochon, Sweet Devil, Mary Ensz, DEUX OMAHA, and Nicola Callahan.
The selected designs were on display from February 6th through May 7th, 2023 on various billboards across the state, specifically in Hastings, Valentine, Grand Island, Kearney, Norfolk, Geneva, Lexington, and Scottsbluff.
For those unable to see the billboards in person, a public gallery exhibition of the selected designs occurred at BFF’s Petshop Gallery. Visitors to Petshop were invited to take part in direct action by writing postcards to their elected representative during the First Friday opening reception.
Day Dreaming // Ramon Guzman
First Friday April 7th
From the artist:
I began drawing as therapy during more difficult times, but as I pursued my art it became something that brought me joy and happiness, transforming my ideas through art and therapy into brightly colored abstract designs. I found that working with colors, shapes, lines and spaces gives me a deep sense of satisfaction and the freedom to express through visualization my different thoughts and emotions. Experimenting with many colors and shapes is something that I love, seeing how different hues and patterns interact with one another contrasting and complimenting. Faces have always been a major interest of mine; I am fascinated by how different people look and feel.
I began drawing as therapy during more difficult times, but as I pursued my art it became something that brought me joy and happiness, transforming my ideas through art and therapy into brightly colored abstract designs. I found that working with colors, shapes, lines and spaces gives me a deep sense of satisfaction and the freedom to express through visualization my different thoughts and emotions. Experimenting with many colors and shapes is something that I love, seeing how different hues and patterns interact with one another contrasting and complimenting. Faces have always been a major interest of mine; I am fascinated by how different people look and feel.
My work reflects the thoughts and perceptions of the world around me, with a passion to spread joy and smiles to anyone I encounter in life. Living day to day can be routine and filled with stress, my art tries to remove the mundane and stresses of life, even if it is just for a short while.
PROCREATE
First Friday May 5th
PROCREATE - a parent & child collaborative art show ♡ A unique event featuring works by many of your favorite local artists & their children! Come join us on May 5th at Petshop Gallery from 7 to 10 pm.
A night filled with great laughter & love while celebrating all the joys of parenthood, family & most of all, the brilliant children.
SHOWING ARTISTS:
☆ Frances, Willa & Tim McEvoy ☆ ☆ Lyla & Sarah Rowe ☆ ☆ Owen & Jeff King .
☆ Bella Moon & Leah Casper ☆ ☆ Willa & Ethan Jones ☆ ☆ Maxwell & J.J. Carroll ☆ Nasha, Ayama & Betni Kalk Ogochukwu ☆ ☆ Nessie & Brandon Mass ☆
☆Ayana Mariko & Masayoshi De AliOhira & Jeanne Christine Pittack ☆
☆ Poet Artemis & Christina Pierce ☆ ☆ Holly, Henry & Leslie Beckman ☆
☆ Max Hoppenbrouwers & Karen Bauer☆ ☆ Emma, Robyn & Miki Kiel ☆
☆ Eli & Lindsey Strachota ☆ ☆ Theo & Jim Kourlas & Emily Sommer☆
☆ Ruby & Justin Beller☆ ☆ Trinity Green, Austin E. & Anthony T. Peňa☆
☆ Freya, Auden, Darian Stout & Melynda Walsh & Van Stanek☆
☆ Max & Derek Pressnall ☆ ☆ Elijah Hager-Buchan & Kim Hager☆
☆ Harper & Marty Bruckner ☆ ☆ Elsa Combs & Lori Tatreau ☆
☆ Finn & Shane Bainbridge ☆ ☆ Nation Queal & Momma Abby☆
☆ Elwood Stone & Donny Diederich & Eleanor Merrill ☆
☆ Frances, Willa & Tim McEvoy ☆ ☆ Lyla & Sarah Rowe ☆ ☆ Owen & Jeff King .
☆ Bella Moon & Leah Casper ☆ ☆ Willa & Ethan Jones ☆ ☆ Maxwell & J.J. Carroll ☆ Nasha, Ayama & Betni Kalk Ogochukwu ☆ ☆ Nessie & Brandon Mass ☆
☆Ayana Mariko & Masayoshi De AliOhira & Jeanne Christine Pittack ☆
☆ Poet Artemis & Christina Pierce ☆ ☆ Holly, Henry & Leslie Beckman ☆
☆ Max Hoppenbrouwers & Karen Bauer☆ ☆ Emma, Robyn & Miki Kiel ☆
☆ Eli & Lindsey Strachota ☆ ☆ Theo & Jim Kourlas & Emily Sommer☆
☆ Ruby & Justin Beller☆ ☆ Trinity Green, Austin E. & Anthony T. Peňa☆
☆ Freya, Auden, Darian Stout & Melynda Walsh & Van Stanek☆
☆ Max & Derek Pressnall ☆ ☆ Elijah Hager-Buchan & Kim Hager☆
☆ Harper & Marty Bruckner ☆ ☆ Elsa Combs & Lori Tatreau ☆
☆ Finn & Shane Bainbridge ☆ ☆ Nation Queal & Momma Abby☆
☆ Elwood Stone & Donny Diederich & Eleanor Merrill ☆
☆ Van, Ramona, Odin, Sarah & Jeff Ankenbauer☆
☆ Mira Caughey-Magnuson & Cait Caughey☆
☆ Mira Caughey-Magnuson & Cait Caughey☆
A Clean Sheet of Paper // Sovia e Bossemeyer
First Friday June 2nd
First Friday June 2nd
From the artist:
Our lives are accompanied by an accumulation of documents, paper we use to account for our existence, to color our perceptions, and to leave some access to who we are.
Our lives are accompanied by an accumulation of documents, paper we use to account for our existence, to color our perceptions, and to leave some access to who we are.
Can these documents understand their purpose?
Do they feel the emotion they create in us?
Do they care if we forget them?
Should they know when we forgive them?
This body of work centers on such pieces of paper, from the documents of my past that no longer support my present, to how I cope with what they cannot change, and the emotional journey that is happening in between the bold typefaces and signature lines.
Special Consideration:
When this body of work was first envisioned I intended to include some performance elements to some of the work. As I planned and prepared, the anti-transgender rhetoric in our state and beyond became increasingly hostile and drastically more aggressive. Fear has driven some out of the state, fear will drive more deeper into hiding. The effort towards stronger visibility is becoming a vulnerability for safety. To include performers would be to risk their safety.
With this in mind I amended the work and removed the performers. I would not normally address creative decisions like this publicly. I am doing so now because I want you to consider this sense of absence. Think about who will be missing from your lives if laws and fear mongering aren't confronted at every opportunity.
Fist Fulla Toys
First Friday July 7th
Fist Fulla Toys is an artists’ toy showcase curated by Lew Lunbeck (Nofunctiontoys) featuring ZWIAN, Stephen Kavanaugh, and Nofunctiontoys. This exhibition is to show the community a different medium of art that is less present in the art world. Toys have been a special part of human existence for a very long time giving us the creative freedom to imagine and create stories with these objects of affection dating back as far as 2600 BCE. Toys give us enjoyment, learning, and understanding in a non-verbal way. They are objects we tend to grow very attached to, even if our consumer society has taught us to always want something new, and to toss things away as soon as they’ve lost their mystery. This is because toys give way to this reality for a more colorful one.
In this toy collection you will find kit-bashed, clay sculpted, sofubi (soft vinyl), resin, plaster, and plastic-cast toys, hand-made and all unique from each other, as well as art that celebrates toys as a unique and impressionable form of media.
Junto Al Río De Estos Cielos // Oria Simonini
First Friday August 4th
Next To The River Of These Skies (Junto Al Río De Estos Cielos) is artist Oria Simonini’s first solo show. The exhibit includes figurative paintings and works on paper. The pieces reflect experiences linked to migration, while also exploring bodies in water and how they inhabit space differently depending on class, race, and country of origin. These pieces are loosely painted, and direct, oftentimes based on web and news sourced imagery.
Cuntry Gravy // Gloria Ceren
First Friday September 1st
Cuntry Gravy is part of an ongoing series of menstrual excavations from my abnormally, heavy periods. With thick clots and delicate washes, these paintings develop from nearly seven years of monthly, tapped reserves. The act of painting in this manner of “kickin’ it” through these particularly, crampy times, probes at the thought of what menses could become. My body and patience channel in on this intuitive process. Lines glide, pours pool, strokes blend, and pigments eventually oxidize. Even anemia comes into question. How can this longstandingly-shrouded, forbidden, flow be met with a more authentic representation of what menstruation entails? Painting with menses challenges my durational stamina and brings me to ponder this material apart from waste. In a time when access to fundamental, reproductive rights are continuing to be restricted, these paintings assert the private and personal over the public and proper.
The work embodies a continued frustration caught in the crossfires of the performative nature of body politics in a Post-Roe United States.
I'M TRYING, I PROMISE I AM // Evan Marnell
First Friday October 6th
First Friday October 6th
I'M TRYING, I PROMISE I AM reveals the artist’s humanity by baring his struggles to find housing, healing and happiness.
The Tourist // Brad Marr
First Friday November 3rd
The only thing that stays constant is the earth and sky, we are mere tourists on this earth during our short trip here, enjoy the ride!
The Tourist started with the idea that I wanted to do a portrait exhibition based on the randomness of our surroundings. To achieve this I set up a volunteer station during the July and August Benson First Friday. In doing so, I asked each person what is the color of your energy? This was used to dictate the palette of each painting. Additionally, it was important to have the majority of portraits looking straight on and staring at the viewer, being displayed as a ‘subject’. This is also important as I reflect on our common inability to look into each others eyes. This is sometimes a result of social anxiety, a fear of the world or negative interpersonal thoughts, all of which I have experienced. The backgrounds of the paintings contain molecules(orbs) that represent our energy and vertical stripes that make me feel as though they could be bars that represent our energies traveling through the universe. The orbs and bars are slightly blurred as this is how I see the world without my glasses.
There is also a strong existential element that I felt as I worked on this project. I was concerned with and comforted by the feeling of finding self through free will, choice and personal responsibility. The ability to freely distinguish our existence by being self conscious and exist for ourselves eliminates social convention and as a result you can truly love yourself, leading us to love others as well under these guidelines.
Can't Always Be Sunny // Larrison Seidle
First Friday December 1st
First Friday December 1st
My most recent series of small, mixed media paintings is loosely based on childhood photos where I and other family members and/or childhood friends were included. In looking at these photos, I was moved by how seemingly full of energy and life I was as a young boy, always smiling and looking thrilled to be alive. I seemed to have had what you would call a 'sunny' disposition. The title of the exhibit comes from the title of one of the paintings in the series, "Can't Always Be Sunny". It is meant to convey the idea of outward appearances versus inward emotions, anxieties, fears, etc. which are often the complete opposite. In the paining, two figures (myself as the sunburst headed figure on the left and my older, more muscular and "nervy" brother on the right) stand by an old fence in the country. Before us is a dark mirror lying flat on the ground reflecting the same two figures topsy-turvy. What does the mirror represent? Is it a portal to another dimension? Is it the past or future reflected back at us? I think I will leave it up to the viewer to decide.