Ree Schonlau
| Ree Kaneko | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Ree Troia Schonlau February 1, 1946 Omaha, Nebraska US |
| Other names | Ree Shonlau |
| Occupation | Artist Arts administrator Curator Arts consultant |
| Years active | 1971-present |
| Known for |
Jun Kaneko Studio Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts |
| Notable work | Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts |
Ree Kaneko (née Schonlau) (born February 1, 1946) is an American artist, arts administrator, and arts consultant from Omaha, Nebraska.
Kaneko, born in Omaha, Nebraska, grew up in a working-class neighborhood near the Old Market in a neighborhood called Little Italy. Growing up, Kaneko wanted to become an artist. In 1968, Kaneko graduated from the University of Omaha, now known as University of Nebraska at Omaha, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, specializing in ceramics. She went to New York, and returned to Omaha in 1971.
Kaneko was a studio artist for 11 years and served as founder and director of Ree Schonlau Gallery in Omaha from 1971 to 1984. She founded the Craftsmen’s Guild and Omaha Brickworks, both of which offered workshops and art classes. She founded Alternative Worksite, an Artist-in-Industry program, in 1981. All of these arts organizations Kaneko ran were based in Old Market, rented spaces from the Mercer family of Omaha. At the time, Omaha was not regarded as a center for visual arts.
In 1986, the Alternative Worksite, an Artist-in-Industry program, became Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. The Bemis is a nonprofit arts organization that includes galleries and a competitive residency program for artists. The Bemis was a collaboration between Kaneko, her sculptor husband Jun Kaneko, ceramic artist Tony Hepburn, and visual arts curator and professor Lorne Faluk. Kaneko served as Bemis' executive director until 2001, when she and husband Jun Kaneko dedicated their efforts to founding a new center for creativity in downtown Omaha, called KANEKO.
In 1998, the Kanekos opened a non-profit organization called KANEKO: Open Space for Your Mind, to support and promote creativity. An old downtown Omaha Plymouth dealership was purchased and renovated to use as art storage space as well as a nonprofit center for creative studies. KANEKO now encompasses three turn-of-the-century warehouses in the Old Market District of Omaha. Kaneko was instrumental in curating the first exhibit celebrating Omaha designer's Cedric Hartman’s career at KANKEO in 2014.
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