- A storm during the Omaha Art Fair in Aksarben Village earlier this month destroyed artists' works
- Omaha glass artist Matthew Schrader is among those artists who were impacted by the storm
- GoFundMe organized by Omaha Art Fair President Adam Weiss has raised more than $11,000 for the artists
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) – A glass artist is working to replace pieces destroyed by a storm at the Omaha Art Fair in Aksarben Village earlier in June, and a fundraiser is helping him and other affected artists recover.
Matthew Shrader is making new glass art pieces at the Hot Shops Art Center in North Downtown Omaha to replace what was lost when wind and rain upended his booth at the fair. Shrader says that he and seven other artists who have studios at Hot Shops lost 80% of their work in the storm.
"It is really difficult to put your energy and your creativity into a bunch of your work and have it destroyed like that," Shrader said.
Omaha Art Fair President Adam Weiss is organizing a fundraiser to support the affected artists.
"I mean, sometimes your inventory gets covered by insurance, your prints get replaced, but for those people that do one of the kind paintings, I mean, that's two years of their entire livelihood just lost," Weiss said.
As of Thursday afternoon, the GoFundMe had raised more than $11,000.
"Art and creativity is for everybody, and sharing that is what we love to do," Shrader said.
A link to the GoFundMe is available: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-omaha-art-fair-artists-affected-by-the-storm
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