Apack of neighborhood kids skip down the narrow sidewalks of a South Omaha block to the Lithuanian Bakery on South 33rd Street. Father and daughter artists Richard and Rebecca Harrison pause from their work on a mural there to offer the children paintbrushes and simple assignments. Ellie and Robbie Lizdas, trailed by their pug mix Šiauliai, are among the eager young volunteers who have come to help. The children feel proud that the mural, “Sieninis Paveikslas,” tells the story of their Lithuanian heritage. It inspires Ellie and Robbie to share their culture with their tight knit group of neighborhood friends who hail from the diverse backgrounds typical of South Omaha – Polish, Czech, Black, Irish, and Mexican. 

Creating new connections and strengthening neighborhoods through collaborative art making is the goal of the South Omaha Mural Project. Started
by the Harrisons eight years ago, the community-funded project employs an arsenal of artists who have completed a dozen murals around “Magic City.” The Lithuanian American Mural, by lead artist Mike Girón, another founding member of the group, was one of the first. Other works include an Irish American Mural on the side of Donohue’s Pub, where regulars flock on the 17th of each month for corned beef and cabbage; a Polish American American Mural on Dinker’s Bar, which serves one of Omaha’s most beloved burgers; and a trio of murals depicting Latino and Indigenous people in Plaza De La Raza, the site of some of Omaha’s biggest annual cultural celebrations. 

South Omaha has historically been home to working-class immigrants and their descendants as well as Black Americans who came during the Great Migration (1910-1950) seeking work at the beef packing plants and railroads. 

Historian Gary Kastrick is a consultant for the South Omaha Mural Project. He grew up in a Polish family in South Omaha during the 1950s and ’60s. Back then, people in South Omaha were proud of their family heritage, but another identity unified their different origins, he said. At the stockyards and packing houses, people shared the bond of doing difficult and dangerous work in order to make better lives for their families. Since there wasn’t enough room in the neighborhood to spread out and create separate communities, they lived next to one another and learned from each other. 

“My mom made the best gołąbki (Polish cabbage rolls) in Omaha,” said Kastrick. “But when she became friends with our Mexican neighbors and started using Mexican spices, she made the best gołąbki in the world.”

South Omaha used to be a hub for all of Nebraska. Today one South Omaha
Mural Project work located on the side of a grocery store depicts how hard-working Nebraskans from the west to the east have played a role in feeding the nation. 

From left to right across the 260’ wall, the scene unfolds. In the background, there is a village of teepees and a train cutting through virgin prairie. In the foreground, a father pulls his baby girl from a covered wagon. Next, a family rejoices in a bumper crop. A Black family raises a “Freeman Family Farm” sign. Men work together to raise a barn as women serve drinks. Fields of cattle loll. The picture gives way to fields resplendent in green, gold and rust. There are corrals for cattle. A woman and her child feed a bottle calf. In the distance, trucks carrying cattle disappear into the horizon. Next, on the other side of those vast fields, trucks arrive in South Omaha, to the stockyards. The slaughterhouses are depicted in silhouette. There are the packing houses of the day – Armour, Swift, Cudahy. And there is a scene of men and women cutting, weighing and sorting meat. Then the picture showcases South 24th Street with its recreation and bustling shops for out-of-towners. Kastrick says the work captures the spirit of those industrious days.

Today 17-year-old Benter Mock is hard at work. As a homeschooled student, she is free to spend her mornings painting a mural devoted to the history and aspirations of Black Americans in South Omaha. Mock was born and raised in South Omaha. Her family is from Sudan. Before she climbs the extension ladder with her can of paint and brush in hand, Mock pauses for a moment to explain her view that it’s a privilege to give back to the place that nurtured her. 

“I feel like in South Omaha we’re one big community. You see the same familiar faces every day,” Mock said. “Since I’ve been working on this mural, so many people have stopped by to ask questions and talk to us. People are impressed by the creativity and the history. I hope it brings people even closer together to feel the friendship.” 

Soon after Mock begins painting, a local business owner pulls his truck into the parking lot to offer encouragement.

“It’s beautiful,” he says in Spanish. “Keep going!” 

Mock smiles. Her paintbrush doesn’t stop.

On one of the last days of the Lithuanian mural painting, a hot day, Ellie Lizdas brings something to the site that’s even more sustaining than the stories she’s been sharing about her culture. The 9-year-old girl cradles a pitcher of cold beet soup, or šaltibarščiai, that she made with her grandmother to cool and sustain the artists and children. It’s a mixture of seemingly impossible ingredients. And it’s delicious.

 

Art, food and festivities delight in South Omaha

Visitors to South Omaha’s murals can take a break at beloved pubs, bakeries, supermarkets and public squares.

 

Dinker’s Bar & Grill

2368 S. 29th St.

Dinker’s offers one of Omaha’s most raved-about burgers made the old-fashioned way – with an ice cream scoop and a hand press. Homemade onion rings come out sizzling. Creighton fans quaff the Bluejay, a Dinker’s original cocktail made with blue liqueur. On the wall outside, satiated customers take in the Polish Community Mural. Cash only.

 

Lithuanian Bakery 

5217 S. 33rd Ave.

The Lithuanian community mural by lead artist Mike Girón is a deliciously layered masterpiece decorating an exterior wall of the Lithuanian Bakery. Inside the bakery is another deliciously layered masterpiece. The Napoleon Torte is a traditional dessert that takes three days to make – and less than one day to eat. Bakers stack eight paper-thin pastry layers with buttercream and apricot filling. The bakery has a second location in Midtown.

 

Plaza De La Raza

24th and N Street

Plaza De La Raza, which translates to “the square of the races,” showcases the Mexican, Native American and Mayan community murals. Food venders, live music and artisan booths fill the plaza for Cinco de Mayo in May and Fiestas Patrias in September. Vaqueros mounted on dancing horses eventually cede the floor to salsa enthusiasts. 

 

Donohue’s Pub

3232 L St.

Regulars pack in on the 17th of each month – called St. Practice Day – for corned beef and cabbage. Waitstaff greet people by name, and the owner, Mike Donohue, visits tables to chat with regulars and newcomers. Reuben sandwiches drip and Guinness flows. The Irish community mural, “Sláinte,” graces the outside of the pub facing L Street. On Monday nights, the pub serves tacos. How South O is that?

 

Supermercado Nuestra Familia

3548 Q St.

After taking in the panoramic “Sesquicentennial Mural,” art lovers can spread out at picnic tables inside and tuck into an enchilada, tamale or fried chicken dinner from the deli, which also serves ice cold horchata – a beverage made with rice, vanilla and cinnamon. Aspiring chefs of Hispanic cuisine thrill at the assortment of fresh and dried chilies, dried hominy and beans, and generous cheese, meat and fish selections. 

hilies, dried hominy and beans, and generous cheese, meat and fish selections.