Old Omaha potato chip factory produces paintings, pottery, art pieces

OMAHA — Once one of the world’s largest potato chip factories, an Omaha plant that most recently was used to store truck tires has found its creative self.

The old Kitty Clover building, as locals know it, has undergone a multimillion dollar renovation on its 3.5-acre site south of downtown. And a chunk of the 85,000-square-foot facility has been transformed into a co-working hub for artists.

Instead of 16,000 bags of chips daily, the building built in 1952 and rebranded as “Clover24” — a nod to its history and the main corridor on which it sits — is, at least for now, producing original thread paintings, pottery and other crafty products. 

Boings, bowls, little people

Among the first 18 creative tenants is Diane Mattern, who kiddingly calls herself a “weird welder” whose work is seen regionally in the form of spiraled steel “boings” and other distinct concrete garden and indoor sculptures.

There’s Letha Goldsmith, an art therapist who uses magazine pages and glue to sculpt colorful bowls and containers and also incorporates figures of little people into various other art pieces.

Studio mate Amy Robertson’s creative bent is fiber art and thread painting, while neighbor comedian Todd Graves describes his multidisciplinary art forms as “unapologetically offbeat.”

They’re open for business in a structure that, for the first time in decades, offers a public-facing side. For example, a three-day open house and free inaugural group exhibition showing work of more than 90 local artists, including Therman Statom and Watie White, wraps up at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 31. 

Featured is Bart Vargas, whose art has been shown worldwide. His pieces will remain on display through July, along with work of other resident artists. 

Bob and Ilaamen Pelshaw, a husband-and-wife team that started and manages the artist co-working project, said they plan to host future events, in addition to opening doors daily for customers.

“We’re building community,” he said. “We want to celebrate the artists that live in the Omaha area.”

Ilaamen, herself an artist and illustrator with a studio at Clover24, said word quickly traveled, and the initial wave of available studios filled. 

“It shows demand,” she said.

NE pandemic recovery funds

The couple’s effort to offer a South Omaha spot where startups could create and show wares has had ups and downs. Their grand vision proposal was among 367 North and South Omaha applications vying a few years ago for a state grant from federal pandemic-related funds. The Nebraska Legislature earmarked and state officials awarded about $235 million for economic development projects for the areas disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

State officials ultimately awarded the Pelshaw Group $50,000, much less than the $10 million requested. Those dollars have been directed toward a narrower slice of the plan, a job-preparedness program for Nebraskans transitioning from incarceration. 

The couple eventually turned to a different building site and a downsized plan, working now with Heinson Enterprises, which has owned the old Kitty Clover structure since the 1990s. A spokesman for the family-owned enterprise said it saw potentially new and greater use amid the growth of business, residential and recreational activity in and around the downtown of Nebraska’s largest city.

Artists who are situated mostly on the main level — in former administrative office suites turned studios that cover about 11% of the building — have signed leases that give them or the owner the right to terminate at any time, offering flexibility for both sides. 

“We’re in startup mode, testing the market to determine what is the highest and best use for the facility,” said spokesman Kyle Fowler. “They’re testing us out. We’re testing them out.”

Brokers Seth Campbell and Conner Dana of Campbell Dana Commercial Real Estate continue to seek one or more industrial users for the expansive lower level, and possibly a section of the main floor.

So far, the owners have invested roughly $4 million in a new roof, modern facade and building infrastructure. Depending on future uses, Fowler said, more renovations could be ahead.

The Pelshaws hope to add even more creative tenants, including a barber and a tattoo artist, and say the parking lot is an alluring amenity. They envision an outdoor sculpture garden starting with an uncommissioned J. Doe that will be adorned with historical mementos honoring the site’s previous chapters. 

Slanted wall, industrial vibe

While Ilaamen’s career launched in her homeland of Guatemala, it has advanced in Nebraska and during a three-year stint at long established Hot Shops Art Center in Omaha’s north downtown. Tenants consider Clover24 to be a mini version of Hot Shops, where artists feed off each other’s energy and often work collaboratively.

For Bob Pelshaw, who grew up in South Omaha, he hoped to provide a supportive and financially accessible space for area entrepreneurs. He recalls as a kid going outside and soaking in the smell of potato chips being made.

Both he and his wife said they appreciate the industrial vibe and unique spots throughout Clover24 that offer ways to be creative.

One of the studios has a slanted wall, interesting for hanging art. Another has curves for corners. There’s the “chip fryer gallery,” the “brick gallery” and an eclectic bathroom Ilaamen decorated with mashup portraits combining traits of art greats Andy Warhol and Bob Ross.

Said Ilaamen: “We want love in every corner, fun places everywhere you go.”