Expanded UNO mural champions education, creativity and community
by JULI OBERLANDER
University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) alumnus and WhyArts teaching artist Hugo Zamorano recently completed Community Visions II, a mural created in partnership with arts education nonprofit WhyArts.
As lead artist, Zamorano expanded on his 2014 mural Community Visions, a 163-foot installation marking the opening of the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center (CEC). Continuing its themes of community and storytelling, Community Visions II spans two murals totaling 75 feet in the CEC parking garage. The project was funded by the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nebraska Arts Council.
For the theme, Zamorano invited input from UNO students, who emphasized accessibility, diversity and safe spaces. To support aspiring artists, Zamorano and WhyArts Executive Director Mary Kingslan Gibilisco also offered paid apprenticeships.
“It felt right to me to work with students,” Zamorano says. “Since we’re at the university, it’s about education and learning.”
Through UNO’s Service Learning Academy, Zamorano also enlisted UNO instructor Jody Boyer’s Art 4020 students to help with painting and installation.
“Most of the students had not had an experience working with a community-based partnership,” Boyer says. “Being able to hear Hugo talk about the processes that he went through to gather information and voices in order to partner with a community was really important for the students.”
While Zamorano provided guidance and finishing touches, he encouraged Boyer’s students and WhyArts apprentices to express creative freedom.
Jerry Brito-Mendoza, one of Zamorano’s apprentices and a 2025 UNO graduate, says the project taught him about mural techniques and the art communities in Omaha.
“Ever since working with Hugo, I’ve taken more initiative to explore other large-form art mediums and really find my own interests,” Brito-Mendoza says. “His own experiences inspired me to want more out of art.”
Throughout the apprenticeship, Zamorano regularly checked in with students, who came from different backgrounds and skill levels. A mentor with Kent Bellows Studio, Zamorano prioritizes flexibility and openness to ideas.
WhyArts apprentice Mariana Granados-Trejo says she appreciated the learning opportunity.
“Working on the mural was an amazing experience,” Granados-Trejo says. “I learned so much from Hugo and from the other community members involved. It was inspiring to be part of something that brings people together through creativity.”
Kingslan Gibilisco hopes the project draws attention to both murals while celebrating Omaha’s diversity and the value of public art.
“You don’t have to pay to go see it,” she says. “It’s in a public area, and that’s important to depict some of our marginalized community members. I hope people take away from this that everyone in our community is very important.”
Like Gibilisco, Zamorano’s goal is to highlight UNO and Omaha’s art spaces.
He hopes the mural brings awareness about the artwork in the CEC along with more opportunities for students.
“It would be great to see a bigger legacy of just more public artwork on campus aside from what’s already there,” Zamorano says, “and even more so, having more students involved in the art making.”
