Located in Omaha, Nebraska, Bemis Center facilitates the creation, presentation, and understanding of contemporary art through an international residency program, exhibitions, and educational programs. Their vision is to inspire an open and diverse dialogue on the critical issues that give shape and meaning to the human condition.

---

We are thrilled to announce the 4th iteration of
Sixty x Bemis Center’s Critic-in-Residence Program!

Over the past three summers, Sixty and Bemis Center have joined forces to form a Critic-in-Residence Program, bringing Sixty writers to Bemis Center of Contemporary Arts in Omaha to engage with their current exhibition. This summer will be our fourth iteration of the program, creating an opportunity for cross-regional dialogue and exchange while offering intentional space and time for critics to expand their practice.

Sixty’s partnership with Bemis Center furthers our reach within the Midwest as well as emphasizes the Midwest’s creative capabilities and role in global contemporary arts discourse. The Midwest is as expansive as it is diverse, and we believe that to truly get a sense of what is happening in a local art scene, you need to have your feet on the ground in that city, meet with the folks who are continuously doing this work, and see for yourself the impact local artists and cultural workers are making. This Critic-in-Residence Program provides the chance for a Sixty writer to not only respond to Bemis Center’s current exhibition, but also to gain an understanding of the work being done in their local art scene.

This year’s Critic-in-Residence is independent writer and curator Pia Singh, who will travel to Bemis Center to write about the exhibition From the Great Lakes to the Great Plains, engage with Bemis Center’s talented artists-in-residence, and connect with local arts and cultural workers. During her stay, she will have the opportunity to immerse herself in a new, creative environment and contribute to the contemporary arts dialogue happening in Omaha, bringing her own interests, background, and expertise to the conversation. As a curator and writer, we are excited for Pia to forge new, generative relationships that will feed into and further her practice while deepening Sixty’s presence and network in the region, cultivating a conversational bridge between Chicago and Omaha.

Read 2024 Critic-in-Residence River Ian Kerstetter’s essay “Defiant Bodies“, which responded to Bemis Center’s exhibition “Flags of Our Mothers” which featured artist Raven Halfmoon.

About the Critic-in-Resident

Singh’s research centers community-engaged arts practices at the intersection of contemporary art and design thinking, challenging structural and pedagogical hierarchies within and outside of which artists forge pathways toward systemic change. She has been awarded SAIC’s Kurtich Scholarship (Berlin); the SAAS-FEE Curatorial Residency (Berlin); The Luminary Visiting Critic-in-Residence (St.Louis); The New Art School Modality Arts Writing Residency (New York); The Alternative Art School Fellowship; and most recently, Bemis X Sixty Inches from Center’s Critic-in-Residence (Omaha). Singh also serves as a visiting critic and curator for several academic programs at SAIC, UIC, Northwestern, and the University of Chicago. Her writing has been published by Sixty Inches from Center, Chicago Reader, NewCity, Brooklyn Rail, Tussle Magazine, Hyperallergic, Cultured Magazine, ArtIndia, and Frieze, alongside other regional publications. 

About the Exhibition

From the Great Lakes to the Great Plains: The Visible Currents of Climate Change
June 13-September 14, 2025

Examining the interrelationship between past, present, and future landscapes of the Great Lakes and Great Plains regions, this exhibition highlights how water remains at the core of all climate change conversations. These two distinct yet interconnected regions—one defined by vast freshwater systems and the other by expansive prairies and riverways—serve as critical sites for understanding the environmental, cultural, and political dimensions of water. Through a diverse range of artistic practices, the exhibition brings together artists who are originally from, currently living in, or who have lived in these areas, emphasizing the urgency of climate-related challenges on both a local and global scale.

Often dismissed as “flyover country,” the Great Lakes and Great Plains are, in reality, vital landscapes that reveal the complexities of water’s role in sustaining life, shaping communities, and fueling both industry and ecological degradation. The participating artists engage with these tensions, exploring how water is revered, exploited, protected, and, in many cases, stolen. Their works respond to historical and ongoing environmental injustices, Indigenous knowledge systems, industrial and agricultural interventions, and speculative futures shaped by climate resilience.

Beyond merely raising awareness, the artists featured in this exhibition propose imaginative and interdisciplinary solutions to the water crisis, drawing from fields such as ecology, activism, technology, and history. Their works span a range of mediums and approaches, offering profound insights into the urgent need for collective action in the face of an escalating global crisis. By merging artistic innovation with scientific inquiry and social engagement, they challenge us to rethink our relationship to water and the landscapes that depend on it.

Artists in the exhibition include: Teresa Baker, Jess Benjamin, Nadia Botello, Rozalinda Borcila, Andrea Carlson*, Hoesy Corona, Timothy Frerichs, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Dana Fritz, Sky Hopinka, JeeYeun Lee, Dylan AT Miner, Trey Moody, John Pfahl, Platte Basin Timelapse, Asad Raza, Karen Reimer, Anna Scime, Bently Spang, Colleen Thurston, and Tali Weinberg,