Celebrity artist helps transform Omaha neighborhood once fraught with hopelessness and crime

The grounds of outdoor athletic courts at Myott Park in the Bluestem Prairie residential area, which is being developed by Habitat for Humanity Omaha, are transformed into art by Frankie Zombie, a national artist who is videotaping his Omaha experience for a pilot he is developing. He currently is a co-star of the "Artfully Designed" show that is streaming on HBO. Also shown painting is crew member Dante Page. (Courtesy of John Melingagio and Habitat for Humanity)

OMAHA — The back story of North Omaha’s Bluestem Prairie neighborhood hit home with celebrity artist Frankie Zombie, and it didn’t take long before he jumped in to help the transformation of the once notorious housing site.

In town this week with his team, Zombie — nationally known for bold-colored abstract art on unconventional canvases such as pianos, shoes and cars — is putting his creative touch on the most communal part of the 85-home Bluestem area still under development.

That is, the basketball and pickleball courts in what is officially known as Myott Park.

When finished, the ground where new generations will shoot hoops, play and hang out, will be covered by message-packed murals inspired by conversations with Omahans whose lives have been intertwined with the neighborhood , Zombie said.

Eventually Zombie hopes to share those stories — and the Omaha Habitat for Humanity effort to provide affordable homeownership opportunities — with a larger audience. He selected the park project to feature in a new pilot he is working on.

Currently Zombie is a co-star of the “Artfully Designed” show streaming on HBO.

Deeper behind the scenes

The New York City native, who was raised in South Carolina, said his goal is to go deeper “behind the scenes” to tell stories of personal struggle and human connections. He sees value beyond the urban artwork that will cover the outdoor sports courts.

“The smiles, the cries, the happiness, the stress, the joy — I want people to understand these projects,” said Zombie. “It’s hoping that I can inspire at least one person to want to go after something that so many people have told them they can’t do.”

Zombie and Habitat officials agree there may be no better place than a park to spread a message or start a conversation.

“Especially in my culture, parks for us are spiritual,” said Zombie, who made sure that local youths helped him in turning the sports courts into art. “It’s where you come meet your friends, where you have your first kiss, different community events.”

Amanda Brewer, chief executive of Habitat Omaha, expects enthusiasm to build with signature work from a nationally known artist.

About half the development’s homes are constructed. Other improvements in the nearly four-acre city park in the Bluestem area will include playground equipment, an amphitheater and walking trails funded by private dollars and a $1.1 million federal grant.

State funds boost affordable housing site

The $25 million Bluestem Prairie neighborhood, which stretches across about 15 acres near 52nd Street and Sorensen Parkway, is funded largely by private donors, a pandemic-related grant and the Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

That fund, administered by the State Department of Economic Development, aims to serve the lowest-income individuals for the longest periods of time.

City of Omaha officials also approved $3.4 million in public tax-increment financing, a tool created by the Legislature to spur development of blighted areas. Generally under TIF, the developer takes out a loan to help cover eligible expenses, and the loan is paid back by using the increased property taxes generated on the new development.

“This park was important to the neighborhood that we are rebuilding,” said Brewer. “The act of bringing people together, the energy that’s created from that, is what we’re so excited about.”

Social media post

Zombie’s presence — he said he was unfamiliar with Omaha before now — was sparked by a local Habitat for Humanity worker’s love for art.

Tessa Randolph, the nonprofit’s digital and social media manager, follows Zombie on social media. He has painted golf shoes for Celine Dion, designed a NASCAR “art car” entry and worked with famous musicians such as Pharrell Williams and Miley Cyrus.

When Randolph saw Zombie’s Instagram post seeking a basketball court to paint, she aimed for what she thought was a long shot.

She sent him information about what Bluestem used to be: the Wintergreen Apartments — so neglected and dangerous that they were demolished in 2006, leaving the tract an eyesore for 16 years.

She sent material showing what the area was becoming: an intergenerational neighborhood where low-income residents have access to homeownership opportunities.

Struck a chord

Zombie said it struck a chord, rekindling his own childhood memories of the Bronx where it at times was too unsafe to go outside and play.

“There was no vision of what I wanted my life to be in the future,” he said. “I didn’t see much. I had to look at the TV to see it.”

Omahans he spoke with about the Bluestem neighborhood’s past echoed the sentiment, which helped frame a focal point of the basketball court: a 3-D image of the word “VISION.”

Zombie said he wanted a “huge moment” message that would subconsciously linger in a youth’s mind. He sees the word projecting hope, resilience “and overall a focus to keep moving forward with whatever your dreams are.”

Other words are embedded in the design, something Zombie calls “diary style” text that provokes thought, conversation and understanding about sometimes difficult topics.

Each word, he said, is a reflection of what an Omahan told him about what the neighborhood revitalization means to them.

Zombie said the mural is also inspired by visits to places such as the Malcolm X Birthsite. He said he was surprised that, despite his study of culture, race and civil rights, he hadn’t known that Malcolm X was born in Omaha.

A crown symbol within one of the Myott Park pickleball courts will represent a takeaway from the teachings of Malcolm X, he said.

“He was heavy on teaching other Black people and peers to see the brilliance in themselves,” said Zombie. “ I just want the children and really anyone that walks these courts to understand, you are a king, you are a queen.”

Remembering ‘the Myotts’

Robert Bray IV, 41, lives with his wife and three children in a house on the periphery of Bluestem.

He sees a stark contrast from his neighborhood today and the one he remembers as a young man visiting his sister who lived in “the Myotts,” a name that nods to the low-income housing project that preceded the change to Wintergreen.

“There was a lot of crime, homicides, drugs, gangs, things of that nature,” said Bray. “Good people lived there, but a lot of bad people came over there.”

Bray bought his house prior to Habitat’s purchase of the Bluestem property. He said he became impressed by the agency’s work and left a higher-paying job at Kellogg’s to join Habitat as an equipment supervisor.

Part of his day involves checking on the Bluestem neighborhood.

“To see these houses being built, and kids being able to run around and not have the worries the kids had 20 years ago, is a good feeling.”

He anticipates that his own kids, ages 11 to 15, will be among the regulars when the park is scheduled to open in the spring.

And he anticipates that the messages contained in Zombie’s artwork will resonate.

“If my kids and their friends see those words, they’ll be thinking: If I can visualize it, I can achieve it.”

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