Where Art Meets Sunday Morning Music at Gallery 1516

April 27th, 2026

On most days, Gallery 1516 is a place to slow down and look.

Right now, it’s also a place where two very different exhibitions share the same space.

One side of the gallery features Artist as Muse, a photography series where artists become the subject. Well-known names appear alongside Omaha artists, all seen through the lens of other photographers.

On the other side, the tone shifts.

Photographs from Father Don Doll’s Visions document life on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations in South Dakota. The images are quiet and direct, asking visitors to take their time.

Raymond Christensen, Facilities Manager at Gallery 1516, says the current exhibition brings these two ideas together.

“Right now we have our From the Collection exhibition on, which highlights two of our traveling exhibitions,” Christensen says. “The Artist as Muse series… and then we have Omaha equivalents interspersed as well.”

Both exhibitions run through May 24th. But what happens at Gallery 1516 isn’t limited to what hangs on the walls.

On Sunday mornings, the space changes.

Chairs fill the gallery. Coffee is poured. Bagels are passed around. And then, music begins.

The series is called Bagels and Sometimes Bach. It’s free, open to the public, and built around a simple idea: bring people together for live music in a relaxed setting.

“Bagels and Sometimes Bach is a music series that we put on every fall on Sunday mornings,” Christensen says. “Coffee, orange juice, bagels, and grapes are all provided free of charge.”

What started as something small has grown into a regular stop for many in Omaha. The lineup blends student musicians with well-known performers from the local scene.

Coming up, the Omaha Chamber Music Society performs on May 3rd. And on May 10th, a special Mother’s Day concert adds a small twist to the morning.

“On the 10th of May we offer our Mother’s Day performance… and on that one we will have mimosas for Mother’s Day too,” Christensen says.

The gallery continues to shift with the seasons.

After the current exhibitions close, a new show featuring Watie White and members of his family will take over the space, with larger, more three-dimensional work.

Later in the summer, Gallery 1516 hosts its Downsizing exhibition, where local collectors sell pieces from their own collections. It’s one of the few times the gallery steps into art sales, offering visitors a chance to take something home.

“Local art collectors in Omaha will have works displayed in an attempt to downsize their collection,” Christensen says. “It’s a great time to buy works at an affordable price.”

And in the fall, the gallery looks beyond Omaha.

“Every even-numbered year we have a regional photography biennial,” Christensen says. “It’ll be a really great show of the best photography the region has to offer.”

At Gallery 1516, things don’t stay the same for long.

You can walk in for an exhibition, and come back weeks later to find something completely different. Or you can show up on a Sunday morning, grab a bagel, and hear live music without a ticket.

It’s a place that keeps things simple. And that might be why it works.