New arts designation taking shape in midtown Omaha [Video]

The seeds of what artist Watie White hopes will be a flourishing 40th Street arts community are appearing one by one on the wall of a second-floor room at Joslyn Castle.

The black and white portraits — many drawn of people he’s encountered at a cafe in the neighborhood — will hang later this year in establishments across the core of the new Castle and Cathedral Arts District, which stretches from Cuming to Dodge Streets and Saddle Creek Road to 38th Street.

They’ll provide an early identity and a spark for future projects from a partnership formed between Joslyn Castle & Gardens, Cali Commons, the Cathedral Arts Project and the Joslyn Castle Neighborhood Association. The partnership has resulted in a $250,000 grant from the Nebraska Arts Council.

“It’s tangible,” White …