Tenaska Center Grand Opening: Don’t Miss These Free Events
Something exciting is coming to downtown Omaha this spring! The Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement opens in March. If you’ve attended a show at the Holland Performing Arts Center or Steelhouse Omaha in the last year, you’ve no doubt noticed the construction. And on March 22, the building will finally be ready for the public.
Arts visionaries Dick and Mary Holland dreamt of having an area in Omaha that could bring entertainment, education, and community engagement together. The Tenaska Center joins the Holland Center and Steelhouse Omaha in making that thriving arts hub a reality.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by O-Pa. All thoughts, opinions and typos are my own.
What The Tenaska Center means for families
O-Pa and community partners have held camps in the Holland Center for years. My daughter has attended a couple of camps in the upstairs classrooms. The rooms worked fine, and O-Pa was able to serve a lot of students, but there was more that could be done. With the opening of the Tenaska Center, O-Pa can now expand education and community engagement programs.
Did you know: O-Pa already serves more than 100,000 students, teachers and community members each year!
The Tenaska Center will be home to camps, classes, and workshops for all ages, abilities, and experience levels in Broadway & Theater, Dance & Movement, Expressive Arts, Family & Preschool, Hip Hop, and Music. It’s never been a better time to introduce your kids to the arts, the Tenaska Center opening times out well for 2026 Spring & Summer classes and camps.
When you can visit the Tenaska Center
You can visit the Tenaska Center during three upcoming public events: The Ribbon Cutting on March 19, the Open House on March 22 and Community Day on April 11. Here’s what to expect at each event.
If you want my opinion, the not-to-miss event of the three is Community Day! There will be drop-in classes for all ages, mini performances, and a lot of fun stuff for kids.
The Ribbon Cutting is the official opening event on March 19 at 10 a.m. Community leaders will be there, as well as building creators, and O-pa staff.
For those of you who just want a peek inside, you’ll have the opportunity to take a self-guided tour of the building on March 22 from noon to 4 p.m. during the Open House. During the noon hour, there’s a Class & Camps Fair to learn more about upcoming educational opportunities. Starting at 1 p.m., you can watch different performances and demonstrations by various community groups including UNO Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Academy Rehearsal, Blues Ed, Art in Medicine Voices AMPLIFIED!, Hip Hop Lab Ensemble, LNK Vocal Jazz Ensemble, and tbd. Dance Collective.
Community Day is going to be a big event, and it’s one that I’m looking forward to the most! The public can take free classes and workshops, and enjoy demonstrations, performances, bounce houses, dancing, music, and more. Community Day is April 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and then followed by the Hip Hop Lab Block Party & Street Market at 7 p.m. in the Tenaska Center Garden.
It’s a full day, so definitely take a look at the Community Day schedule to plan around the class or classes you and your family are most interested in attending. It’s not just for kids or teens. There are classes for older arts lovers like Dance for Older Adults and Keyboard for Adults. Unless otherwise noted, all activities at Community Day are open to all ages.
Some of the classes and workshops require pre-registration, so sign up now in order to secure a spot. These include the Broadway Camp Sampler with Q. Smith, Broadway Choreography Workshop with Ray Mercer, and the Accessible Theater Workshop.
Tip: If you have a toddler or youngster, check out Baby ArtsPlay! Workshop (ages 0-2 with a caregiver) or ArtsPlay! Workshop (for ages 3-6 with a caregiver).
The Hip Hop Lab Block Party closes out the day. The evening features performances by Omaha-based artists DJ REAL and DJ Leeper, and national artists B-Boy Crumbs, Rahzel, DJ Charlie Chase, and Grand Wizzard Theodore. Be sure to register to attend – it’s Choose-What-You-Pay (including $0) – so O-Pa can have a head count and so you can be entered to win tickets to an upcoming show.
Learn more about the Tenaska Center and its Grand Opening festivities at o-pa.org.
