Come and see Omaha’s most thrilling art competition! Are you tired of spending your evenings glued to the TV in a state of boredom? Step out into the exhilarating world of live art at Art Battle Omaha. Picture this: local artists going head-to-head in high-speed, 15-minute painting rounds, creating awe-inspiring paintings right before your eyes. The real kicker? You become the judge, casting your vote for the ultimate winner. Add a live DJ, frenzied competition, and plenty of visual excitement for a unique night. 

MY FIRST ART BATTLE

My experience of going to my very first art battle in Omaha, Nebraska began with an invitation from a friend.  Viewing finished paintings in an art gallery is quite different from seeing a blank canvas become a piece of art.

The raw energy of competitive painting is invigorating.

Talented local artists compete in this live art forum to finish a painting within minutes.   During the battle, you see different artists creating, competing, altering, styling, and producing on their canvases.

Collectivity the artists are on display on an elevated platform.

The frenzied activity stops when the master of ceremonies says ‘stop’ and the artists anxiously wait for the crowd to decide by a show of counted votes who stays for the final round.

After three rounds, a winner emerges.

The best part of an art battle is that this friendly competition gives artists a chance to showcase their skills in a fun and fast way.  And for those artists in spirit in the crowd, who doesn’t love an art competition?

WHAT TO EXPECT AT A LIVE ART TOURNAMENT

Excitement was in the air and the crowd attending the art battle was as unexpected as the art that I was going to see.

In the crowd, there were children, adults, date night couples, and families. 

The eclectic mix of attendees matched the varied mix of artists. Artists were of all ages, sizes, ethnicity, and aesthetics.   There were artists with colored hair, artists with paint on their clothes, artists in overalls, jeans, and custom t-shirts.

This super fun competition was organized fantastically.

THE BATTLE GROUND

The battle was held in North Omaha at the Culxr house.

At the same time a battle was going on another art battle from the same production group was occurring in Bangkok, Thailand.    Stepping into the back room of the Cluxr House, the DJ was playing Hip Hop and art murals from floor to ceiling decorated the walls. 

In the middle of the floor was the podium with the easels in a circle and there were lights set up focusing in the center of the stage.

The battle of live art ‘went down’ with a brief introduction of the first six artists and a cheer of support from the crowd.   The master of ceremonies hosted by the Culxr House began by counting down ten…nine…eight…seven…then to one. 

AND SO, THE ART COMPETITION BEGINS

A manic flurry of activity began in the center of the room.

The artists were spray-painting, spackling, taping, using their fingers, using their brushes, chalking, creating the foundation of their art canvas and then painting over it.

It was fun to see the artists’ creation process.  Some artists had hand drawn designs kept near their paint stations to use as their guide and other artists would use the clothing on their arm to quickly wipe paint off their brushes. 

And in the meantime, while the artists were furiously working on their canvases, some of the crowd was standing off to the edges and on the sidelines of the walls.

Other people in the crowd, including myself, were slowly circling the podium just to see this live art production that was moving so fast.

On the first walk around the stage, I could see the different mediums the artists chose to orientate or sketch out rough lines on their canvas as a foundation for their design to be painted. 

The next walk around I could see the beginnings of color and strokes that began to set the mood of the piece.

Sometimes in the beginning what the artists were designing and producing was clear, other times it would not be until towards the end of the fifteen-minute round that their designs would come together in the final moments.

It was exciting to see art produced in a time-lapse where you see a blank canvas and then within the span of five-minute increments seen a progression of artistic thought.

TIME DOESN’T CARE IF YOU FINISH

In my own life, as I struggle with learning and producing things quickly, I enjoyed the time restriction given to these artists. 

I am sure the artists would have liked to have had more time to create, but the reality of life is that there is never enough time for perfection. We must understand that just a little bit of time for creation is perfection. 

I appreciated each artist who put themselves out there on display.  Their generosity in sharing their creative spirit made my night fun and gave me respect for their craft.

The sense of urgency of a fifteen-minute deadline was palpable in the air.  The movement of the circle of crowd around the artists was almost like the ring of a clock arm keeping time.          

Time ends and begins, and the art battle ended when the master of ceremonies began counting down again 10…9…8…7… until the count was down to zero.   The master of ceremonies shouted, “Brushes up!”, at which the artists would throw their hands up in silent agreement.

With brushes and hands returned to their sides, the artists step away from their art stations and down off the podium.

Time was up.