We were lucky to catch up with Alex Jochim recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alex, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

YES.
We build vacations into our annual calendar and try to use them strategically for the benefit of the organization. Travel can be the best educator and source of inspiration!

Each spring, we offer all of our staff and volunteers a “Mission Trip,” where we visit a regional city and explore their creative community – visiting museums, creative districts, historical sites, nightlife, live music and performances, etc. Since 2019, we’ve visited Sante Fe, Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Des Moines. Some of our staff haven’t had the opportunity or means to travel to these cities, and it’s a way to open up their perspectives and inspire them. We either get inspiration for things we want to take back to Omaha and see in our programming, or we get validation for things we’re already doing that may seem on par or better :)

We use travel as professional development in other ways, too, taking road trips to nearby conventions and by visiting international art fairs, going to Art Basel Miami every December.

Personally, I’ve been taking on a snow bird role, too – leaving Omaha in the dead of winter to any beach that’s affordable to work remotely. This gives me the opportunity to escape the miserable cold weather, find inspiration in the ocean and warmer weather, and to really focus on systems improvement, grant writing, and other necessary tasks that I can work on alone from afar :)

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Brief History:
BFF was founded as “Benson First Friday” in 2012 by a group of underrepresented artists (myself included) who have since then gained leadership experiences and professional gains in the art sector. Volunteering and funding the organization themselves, the founding team restructured as a nonprofit in 2015 to sustain efforts. With new opportunities and diversified revenue streams, the organization continued expansion of its programs beyond First Fridays, leading to an official name change in 2019 to “BFF Omaha.”

That initial grassroots mentality, drive for the inclusion of underrepresented groups, and strong volunteerism continues to this day with every staff member still volunteering a portion of their time. Due to a recent increase in support from funders & foundations, however, these dedicated volunteers are now being transitioned into paid staff positions.

Organizational Overview:
Headquartered in Benson (a small neighborhood in Omaha), BFF is dedicated to building community through arts engagement. We support the arts & our community through Advocacy, Education, Inclusion, Opportunity, and Unique experiences (AEIOU – we’d like to buy a vowel!). We provide a social infrastructure that is integral to the community’s well being and supportive of local artists, businesses, residents, commerce, and the environment through interactive art programs.

Founded in 2012 as “Benson First Friday,” BFF has expanded its programming and grown steadily to become the volunteer-driven, artist-run, DIY-trained powerhouse nonprofit that it is today. We are now celebrating 12+ years of operation, and most recently led the Benson neighborhood to become Omaha’s first state-recognized Creative District.

Key Programs:
First Friday is our longest-run program, happening on the first Friday of every month, year-round and is attended by 4000+ visitors on average each summer month. An event map provides visitors a guide to walkable sights and exhibitions located in neighborhood galleries and businesses. BFF also sponsors neighborhood programming including street closures, artist vendor markets (averaging 100+ monthly vendors), multiple street DJs and live music stages, youth engagement, hands-on education, digital media, public art projects, and special annual events like First Friday PRIDE (June) and New American Arts Festival (August) which showcases refugee and immigrant arts and cultures.

The Benson Creative District (BCD), founded in 2022 by BFF, was Omaha’s first state-recognized Creative District. The BCD advances Benson’s thriving creative community through strategic connections and resources. Current efforts include 13 district-funded projects which vary from public art projects, art classes, neighborhood festivals, artist residencies, lectures, co-working opportunities, and 3 large-scale projects that are establishing a key partnership between the BCD and the neighborhood’s Benson High School.

Other programs:
Founded in 2012, Petshop is BFF’s largest facility. The shared creative space is located in the heart of Omaha’s Benson neighborhood, housing affordable artist studios, community galleries, event space, co-working offices, and is home to BFF’s headquarters.

MaMO Gallery (pronounced “May-MOH”) is a semi-trailer-turned-gallery that travels throughout the region March-December, partnering with various communities and organizations, and hosts interdisciplinary programming, artist residencies, and immersive installations.

BFF Gallery, opened in 2022, contains an artist studio and large public-facing gallery that features artist exhibitions and community partnerships with a focus on supporting local BIPOC artists.

In 2022, BFF opened its fourth facility, called “Trudy’s,” housing 5 artist studios, white-walled exhibition spaces, and an all-ages education space. Branded as a faux diner, cafe seating surrounds the entrance on First Fridays when artist studios open up to the public, all-ages art education is offered, artists exhibit on the walls, and the “coffee’s always on!” Classes are held weekly by Resident Teaching Artists who also provide free compounding workshops during First Fridays.

Built out in front of Trudy’s sits the “Free Little Arts Center” that hosts two small galleries, distributes 500+ art materials to the public for free each month, and contributes to the distribution of free to-go art kits.

Green Team promotes environmental sustainability and beautification in our community, providing weekly community clean-ups, recycling, & compost services for the neighborhood, as well as frequent public art projects. The program is now led by a resident Sanitation Artist who oversees all community engagement efforts, programming, and education.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

We didn’t have any initial capital. We founded our organization through volunteerism, community engagement, and funding all expenses out-of-pocket. We saw a need and opportunity within the community, and acted on it. As artists, we were (and still are) very resourceful – creating any needs ourselves, calling on the people we knew to help, seeking additional resources to help, and seeking any and all donated services, goods, or monetary donations. We rallied the community and other artists to pitch in and get involved in whatever capacity they could. And programming continued to grow despite the lack of funding.

In the beginning we would throw outrageous fundraisers to pay for our main galleries and artist studios. Fundraisers included mud wrestling, arm wrestling, bull-riding, a kissing booth, a haunted house, and even a “Break Shit” party where event-goers could purchase glass and ceramic goods from the gallery and smash them against a wall.

After 3 years of self-funding, we were at a tipping point and ready to burn out. So, with the help of a pro-bono lawyer, we became a non-profit organization, which allowed us to tap into other revenue streams. But it wasn’t an overnight success. The funding community was a bit weary of a group of irreverent, fringe-society, self-trained artists that threw “Break Shit” parties and mud-wrestled. As the Executive Director, I volunteered for ten years, many of them full-time until 2022. At that point, we had engaged enough supporters and legitimized ourselves in the non-profit sphere enough to support full-time staff. Two years later, we presently have 3 full-time staff, 16 part-time staff, and many many more compensated creatives that are gaining professional development within the art sector.

We continue to utilize the arts as a tool for advocacy, action, accessibility, social justice, and progress. As a 93% artist-run organization, we naturally take action when times call for it, regularly initiating public art campaigns aimed at raising awareness, supporting racial and social justice, and creating necessary conversation and action. Recent examples include “Voices of Choice” rural Nebraska billboard project partnered with Nebraskans for Abortion Access, the New American Arts Festival, which showcased local refugee and immigrant arts and cultures, and First Friday PRIDE which showcased local LGBTQIA artists, many representing BIPOC intersectionality.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

Sifting through the mess that came from 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, our organization decided to advocate for voter registration and engagement with elected officials. So we built a bright pink on-street phone booth, and called it the “Call to Action Phone Booth.” The booth not only served as a photo opportunity for those wishing to promote advocacy themselves, but it also offered take-away advocacy resources, elected official contact lists, and more. This project got a lot of traction, even gaining national attention from CBS News.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bffomaha.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bffomaha/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BFFOmaha/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bff-omaha/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bffomaha

Image Credits

Katera Brown