To Know

Artists, exhibitions and shows must have exhibited or performed their work between September 1 and August 31 of the year in question. To be eligible for Album of the Year, it must have been released during that time period. Nominees must reside within 100 miles of the Omaha Metro Area.

Yes, by being active in the artistic community and rallying your fans to vote for you during the voting period. As the nominations are determined by public vote, being visible and marketing yourself is an important step.

Playing the summer showcase is not required to be nominated, it simply increases your visibility for the public to nominate you. Playing the fall nominee showcase is not required to win, it simply allows the voting academy a chance to view your art.

The Omaha Entertainment & Arts Awards (OEAA) recognizes some of the most talented artists and entertainers in the Omaha area. Voting for the awards is separated into three genres: Visual Arts, Performing Arts and Live Music. To be eligible for an award, artists need to have performed or exhibited work between September 1 and August 31 of the following year.

Online public nomination submissions for the 17th Annual OEAAs are now open and will end on August 31, 2022. After voting closes, we tally the nominees in each category. Then, the initial ballots are sent to each genre’s review committees to analyze the public nominations to make sure they fit the criteria and finalize the official list of nominees.

The top nominees in each category are then put on a ballot that is sent to members of the OEAA Academy, consisting of over 100 established artists, industry professionals and cultural journalists. These tallied ballots will give us our Omaha Entertainment & Arts Awards winners which will be announced at the annual awards show in early 2023.

The top nominees in each category are put on a ballot that is sent to members of the OEAA Academy, consisting of over 100 established artists, industry professionals and cultural journalists. These tallied ballots will give us our Omaha Entertainment & Arts Awards winners which will be announced at the annual awards show. Know someone who should be included in the voting academy? Email us! oea.awards@gmail.com.

Award categories are analyzed after every nomination season. We take into consideration genres of music and styles of art that may be seeing a resurgence or dwindling and make adjustments based on what the current scene is in Omaha or what the previous public nomination results indicate (see our past winners as an example of the changes made each year).

Due to year round voting, category edits must be changed 18 months in advance. For example, the public nominations for the 2023 award show started September 1, 2021 and will end August 31, 2022. So edits to the nomination categories for the 2023 award show must be made before that public ballot opens on September 1, 2022.