Accessibility

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Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts is located at 724 S. 12th Street, on the corner of 12th and Leavenworth in the Old Market, one of Omaha’s arts and culture districts. Metered street parking and a limited number of free public parking spaces are available along 12th Street.

Public transportation is available via Metro bus and every bus has wheelchair/mobility device accessibility. The nearest bus stops are located at 13th & Leavenworth Streets, 13th and Douglas Streets, and 16th & Leavenworth Streets.

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts and LOW END entrances can be accessed via an ADA-approved ramp on 12th Street or by seven steps to the front doors. Please note, visitors must navigate a cobblestone street to get to the front of Bemis’s building.

All public spaces and entrances at Bemis are wheelchair accessible. A wheelchair is available for use free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis. Call Bemis at 402.341.7130 when you arrive to have the wheelchair brought outside to you or ask Bemis staff at the front desk once you enter the building. There are multi-stall ADA approved single-sex bathrooms on the main floor with two grab bars.

Admission is free and no ID is required to enter the building. Bemis exhibition galleries are all located on the main floor. After entering the galleries no stairs are required for access and all doorways meet ADA width requirements.

LOW END is located in Bemis’s lower level. After entering the building, there are 18 stairs. A chair lift to the venue is currently being repaired. Guests will be escorted to an elevator through the galleries.

A passenger elevator is available to access floors 2–5 when those floors are open to the public. A freight elevator may also be made available by a Bemis staff member for large groups. A chair lift to access LOW END at the LOW END entrance is currently being repaired. Guests will be escorted to an elevator through the galleries.

Bemis resident live/work studios are on floors 2 and 3 and can be accessed via passenger elevator or stairs during programs and tours that those floors are open to the public. All doorways to the studios meet ADA width requirements.

There are multi-stall ADA approved single-sex bathrooms on the first floor with two grab bars.

Concealed carry is prohibited.

Seating options during public programs feature cushioned folding chairs. Portable cushioned folding chairs are also available for use in the galleries free of charge and can be requested at the front desk. Seating at LOW END includes styrofoam cubes with no backs and some cushioned bench seating. We are happy to provide other seating if requested. If you need to move around, twitch, pace, or not make eye contact, know that you are welcome here.

Large format exhibition guides are available upon request.

Bemis Center is not scent-free, but we request visitors enter with low/no-perfume. Many people have chemical sensitivities, which means the chemicals in scents make them ill.

Service animals are welcome.

Please refrain from photographing other visitors without permission.

Texts and programs are in English. If you have questions or would like support with specific access needs such as language translation, please contact Rachel at access@bemiscenter.org or 402.341.7130 at least five days prior to your visit and we will do our best to help you attend comfortably.