My trip to Omaha

Published Monday | May 7, 2007
Art gallery roof collapses just hours after reception
BY ABE WINTER
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

About 150 people attended Saturday night’s showing of about 100 pieces of art at Jackson Artworks.

 

A possible lightning strike and the weight of water is being blamed for the roof collapse at Jackson Artworks on early Sunday. Paul Davis Restoration employees work atop the building at 1108 Jackson St.

Fortunately, they had left the opening-night reception hours before the collapse of the roof at 1108 Jackson St. in the Old Market of downtown Omaha.

“It was like a mini-tsunami in here,” gallery director Marcia Manzo said as she provided a quick tour while workers removed debris Sunday evening.

Manzo and owners Jim and Kat Moser, who live next door in one of the two side-by-side buildings they own, were the hosts of the reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday. The roof may have been struck by lightning and, weakened by the weight of the water from Omaha’s record rainfall Saturday, collapsed between midnight and 2 a.m.

“It could have been devastating if it had happened last night,” said Manzo, who received a phone call informing her of the collapse.

Nobody was in the building after 10:30 p.m. Saturday. None of the pieces in the show were damaged. However, damage totaling thousands of dollars was done to other pieces, including many that were being held for buyers.

“We were blessed,” Manzo said, referring to the fact that there were no injuries and the 100 pieces that were shown were intact. “But we also sold a lot of art last night.”

Unfortunately, the studio and artwork of Omaha artist/sculptor Dan Newberry were destroyed. Some books in his studio ended up more than 35 feet away in the building’s kitchen.

Paintings in a front storage room were destroyed; others were damaged by the humidity in the aftermath.

Other artwork hadn’t been accounted for, and some works in storage weren’t reachable because of their proximity to the collapsed roof. The building’s office, including its computer, was destroyed, as were the contents in another room rented by an Omaha musician.

“He was pouring water out of guitars,” Manzo said.

Workers estimated the hole in the roof to be 22 feet by 20 feet.

Despite the mess, there’s a possibility of reopening soon.

“We’re hoping for a reopening of this show, with any luck, this weekend,” Manzo said.

Meanwhile, there is no way of estimating the damage.

“We’re not anywhere near that yet,” Manzo said.

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book proposal updated

This is going to be brief — I’m still in the midst of packing for Omaha and am up way, way too late. But there’s been big news on the book proposal front. And this is too good to wait.

My book was sold this afternoon to Broadway Books, an imprint of Doubleday, in a very generous pre-emptive bid — less than a week after my agent submitted it. Though several other publishers were interested, we decided to go with Broadway Books. I think they will be a wonderful “fit” for this particular project. And the editor has a stellar record to boot.

I’m very pleased by this, as you can imagine.

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slammed

That’s where I’m at, workwise. But an end is in sight. How can it not be, considering that everything (and I do mean everything) for my book deadline is due this week before I take off for Omaha Thursday morning? In addition, I’ve pictures to frame and art to pack.

In the meantime, I’ll be sending out all Art and Words orders and bookplate requests before I leave on Wednesday. I probably won’t update this blog until my return next week.

Have a good week!

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