The Art of Belonging: Reflecting on Three Years as Your CreativeMornings Omaha Co-Host
- Andrea Joy Pearson
- Apr 6
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 6
We Explored, We Played, We Grew
We made Omaha BRIGHTER together!
There is a specific kind of magic that happens at 8:30 AM on a Friday morning. While some of the city is just rubbing the sleep from its eyes, a room full of artists, thinkers, and dreamers is vibrating with a frequency that can only be described as pure light.
For the past three years—from April 2023 to April 2026—I have had the profound honor of co-hosting CreativeMornings Omaha. As I prepare to complete this beautiful chapter, I find myself looking back at a journey defined by one simple, powerful mission: to help people feel they truly and deeply belong.
What is Creative Mornings?
CreativeMornings is a global community and monthly event series built around creativity.
CreativeMornings is a free monthly gathering that happens in cities all over the world. Each event typically includes:
A talk from a local creative (artist, entrepreneur, thinker, etc.)
Coffee + community
Time to connect with others
It is meant to be an accessible, welcoming, and inspiring space where anyone can show up and be part of something meaningful.
Creatives All Over the World
CreativeMornings exists in 200+ cities worldwide, all connected through:
A shared monthly theme (every chapter explores the same theme in their own way)
A belief in creativity as a force for connection and change
So while each city has its own flavor, they’re all part of the same global conversation.
Music, Magic, and a Global Milestone
Before my tenure as co-host began, I was invited onto the stage as a speaker to share my heart on the global theme of ETHOS. The direction I chose was "Music and the Magic of Our Lives." because I believe music and sound have the power to influence us in powerful ways including elevating us into our highest potential.
A few months later, out of hundreds of CreativeMornings speakers around the world, my talk was a Global Newsletter feature in 2023! To have my talk elevated globally was surreal, to say the least. I later learned I was, and still am, the only speaker from the Omaha chapter in over nine years to receive global recognition and amplification. Knowing that my message of walking in our power reached people across the world is a milestone I will carry forever.
I had recently founded Joy Brings Light so this moment also served as a divine wink, letting me know I am exactly on the right path.
The Call to the Stage and a partner in VIBE
A few months later, Natalie Wallace, the CMO chapter lead, reached out about joining her as co-host and the "yes" came from my soul. I have always been passionate about building and curating "third spaces"—those vital community hubs outside of home and work where we can simply be.
As an emcee, my favorite gift is the ability to build a container and ensure a space where everyone can be apart of something special. Together, Natalie and I set out to create a space that was high-energy, welcoming, and intentionally grounded. Even in the early hours, we wanted every person who walked through the door to immediately feel warm, bright positive energy.
Whether it was through a welcoming smile, a moment of connection, or one of my signature "professional hugs," our goal was always the same: to uplift while reminding everyone how much they matter and how much their creativity.
The full Creative Mornings Omaha team and volunteers put effort into creating opportunities for us as a artistic collective to meet each other as people, find out what is happening in our city, and explore space, food and concepts.
Moments that Moved Us
One of the most exhilarating things about CreativeMornings is that while the co-hosts remain a constant, the environment is forever fresh. We traveled across the city, turning Omaha into our playground. Hearing from leaders, artist, and builders along the way.
We were moved by the stories of incredible humans, like:
Charles Kay at the KANEKO, whose "Assimilation" show reframed how we view life and influence.
Chef Djibril Djamil Bah-Traore, founder of House of Bah, at Tri-Faith, who brought the vibrancy and spice of African cuisine to our morning.
Tessa Porter, the brilliant candy scientist who showed us the grit and genius behind the sweets we love.
Jewel Rodgers, our Nebraska Poet Laureate, who graced us with her words at the Joslyn Art Museum.
I’ll never forget our 7th birthday celebration at the Omaha Conservatory of Music. I found myself running through the aisles, high-fiving the audience in a moment of pure, unadulterated joy. In that second, I felt like Oprah! It wasn't about the spectacle; it was about the shared electricity of a community celebrating its own existence.
Hosting in Omaha’s most iconic spaces felt like a love letter to the city.
We turned Omaha into our playground, hosting in spaces that reflect the soul of our city:
The Joslyn Art Museum, currently racked as the #6 Art museum in America by USAToday, is a premier fine arts center, offering free general admission and featuring a collection of over 12,000 works spanning 5,000 years of human creativity.
Fun Fact: I am a voice on the official audio tour detailing of some of the Joslyn’s permanent American contemporary art collection - including works by Kehinde Wiley, Mickalene Thomas, Simone Leigh and more!
You can explore the museum with audio on Bloomberg Connects.
Joslyn Castle was built in 1903 for George and Sarah Joslyn. Today, it serves as a public museum, event venue, and community green space, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The estate features 5.5 acres of gardens, a carriage house, and remarkable early 20th-century architecture. Stepping into this historic 35-room Scottish Baronial mansion feels like stepping into a storybook. Hosting in a space with such deep roots in Omaha’s history reminded us that creativity is a legacy we are all building upon.
RDG Planning and Design is an interdisciplinary firm focused on human-centered and inclusive environments. It felt like a perfect alignment with our own mission of experience design and reminded us that engineering and science are art too! RDG has completed over 20,000 projects across 48 states.
The Hot Shops Art Center is a 92,000-square-foot "living museum" and collaborative community founded in 1999. It houses over 90 artists in 50+ studios, allowing visitors to watch, interact, and learn through open studios, gallery exhibitions, and classes. Shout out Kim Sellmeyer, the Executive Director of Hot Shops, who brought Creative Mornings to Omaha 9 years ago.
Kaneko is an renowned art space founded by Artists Jun and Ree Kaneko that hosts rotating, large-scale exhibitions and multidisciplinary programs within three renovated historic warehouse buildings compromised of roughly 400,000 square feet.
Luli Creative House Filled with Natural Light and bursting with color, Luli Creative house, founded by Ariel Panowicz, is a vibrant socially conscious rentable studio and event space created to foster community, creativity, and joy!
My Art Uplifted
I was asked to provide artwork for our 9th birthday celebration journals. As you can imagine, I was elated to have my visual art uplifted and supported in this way! The piece I choose for this occasion was Gaze of Tomorrow, an abstract visual art featuring dot work and palette knife. 3x3
"Gaze of Tomorrow" is a powerful dialogue between ancestral spirit—humanity's first technology—and the frontier of artificial intelligence, reminding us that true guidance comes from both memory and innovation. Created in Omaha, it honors the transcendent legacy of Malcolm X, whose vision of human rights and radiating clarity continues to carry ancestral energy forward.
Why Now?
In every creative endeavor, there is a time to complete the piece so that something new can be created. After three spectacular years of partnership with Natalie, it is time to create space for new voices to thrive and lead the next era of CreativeMornings Omaha.
Community doesn't have to be hard.
These past 3 years have been a reminder that community can be easy and can feel good consistently. My time here is a reminder that when you maintain a container filled with authenticity and friendship, the space can change every month, but the sense of belonging remains unshakable.
The Movement Continues: Joy Brings Light
While I am passing the torch at CMO, I remain active and available for emceeing and facilitation partnerships including public speaking training and coaching. My mission is to continue bringing high-level energy and experience design to leadership summits, conferences, and community gatherings.
At Joy Brings Light, We are dedicated to "helping people people better"—providing real support for living with presence, intention, and purpose through:
Nervous system regulation
Leadership development
Strategic navigation to find the light in every situation
A Final Note of Gratitude
To everyone who came to a session, watched a video, presented or invited us into your venue: Thank you. We created something magical together! To my partner-in-vibe and the one who makes it happen, Natalie: what a gift it has been to collaborate with you. To the full CMO team - we DID that! Thank you for co-creating with me these past 3 years. I thoroughly enjoyed my time as co-host.
Creative Mornings Omaha, you are vibrant, you are artistic, and you are home. I can’t wait to see what is created in this next chapter.
Omaha's unofficial Vanna White is officially signing off...
With love and light,
Andrea Joy Pearson
Comments