(lively music) [Mike] What if a creator brought music, art, fashion, and community engagement together in one place?

(lively music) (passionate music) ♪ You want that, that's a light move ♪ ♪ I could get that back in a night groove ♪ ♪ I pick up the mic and I excite you ♪ ♪ The sound of my voice say I like you ♪ The world of Marcey Yates starts here.

What's your favorite part about doing this?

Just like creating something from something, you know.

Being able to get the feeling that you got, that you have in you, and be able to translate it to the production.

You know what I mean?

And then when you hear it come out the speakers, it's like, "I got one."

(passionate music) Music came first for this award-winning recording artist, music producer, and audio engineer.

Having somewhere to make music was nice, so why not make a place for other things that matter to Marcey?

Music, art, fashion, community engagement.

Welcome to CULXR House.

[Marcey] We are a gateway, starting point, a launchpad.

(upbeat music) [Mike] Give me a tour of CULXR House.

This is what I call our gift shop.

So, you know, we sell records, we sell clothes.

We sell things from local makers as well too.

Even our own merch.

A lot of these records come from Marcey's rather diverse personal collection.

And then there's some music gets made in there, right?

Yeah.

This is where a lot of it happens, man.

When I say a lot of it, yeah, a lot of production goes on here.

A lot of kids come in and use the space.

A space used by Marcey and lots of other creators with a DIY setup.

You do events up here, right?

Concerts sometimes, community events.

We do more intimate events, so if it's smaller, then we'll do them here.

Some organizations, they like to do like meetings, retreats, and things like that.

That includes candidate forums, meetings, all kinds of things.

Sometimes rented, sometimes a free community space, consistent with the CULXR House's non-profit and for-profit business model.

And back here is this big fantastic garage space where lots of cool stuff happens, right?

Yeah, yeah.

This is the warehouse, you know?

[Mike] Fashion shows, concerts featuring local and touring artists, podcasting, surrounded by the art of local artists and the creator of this place.

Some of the artwork is mine.

You'll see it around here.

And you'll kind of like get familiar with my style and be like, "Oh, that's Marcey," you know.

(skateboard grinding) If y'all ready to get started, say let's get started.

[Attendees] Let's get started!

Hey, that's the energy I love.

[Mike] One of the things happening regularly here is a live painting tournament called Art Battle.

Now, once we get going, feel free to walk around, go live, make sure you tag CULXR House, please, right?

Brushes up.

10.

[All] Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

Let's go!

(attendees cheering) (eager music) [Mike] Artists get 20 minutes to paint anything they want.

(eager music) Audience vote determines the winners.

How's it going?

Going good.

You know what I mean?

As y'all see, as beautiful as it look, there's always a little chaos behind the scenes, man.

But that's the beauty of putting together something like that, man.

This space, man.

So, going good, man.

The crowd love it.

The artists love it.

It's hot, right?

-Yeah.

-But hey, it's vibe.

It's vibe.

It's vibe.

[Mike] And you love it?

I do.

I do love it, man.

There's a lot of energy in that room when that happens in there.

Yeah, it's a lot energy, and I love it when the crowd is into it.

Again, it builds up the artist, you know, because it takes a lot to get out there in front of people.

Marcey, I'd like to get in on a battle.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I got somewhere for you to go.

Two-minute warning.

Y'all got two minutes left.

Work on finishing up.

(daring music) Not what I had in mind.

Some tough competition.

(elegant music) [All] Five, four, three, two, one.

[Announcer] Brushes down, everybody!

(attendees cheering and clapping) The winner of Art Battle tonight: Ryan.

(attendees cheering) [Mike] What do you think of this place?

It is very cool.

I love the vibe in general.

I love all of the artwork.

I love meeting like-minded people that, you know, just do art for fun and come here to compete.

Hello, everyone.

Hello.

My name is Marcey Yates.

I'm the director of the CULXR House.

Thank you for being here.

Here at the CULXR House, we are a creative space.

(translator speaking foreign language) (translator speaking foreign language) [Mike] There's always something happening here.

On this day, a summer camp session for refugee and immigrant kids to explore music, art, and fashion.

We'll break you down into groups, and we'll try to have as much fun as we can.

(translator speaking foreign language) (playful music) I want to start with an exercise just to get into one of the first aspects of music, which is rhythm.

(attendees clapping rhythmically) (piano resonates) [Instructor] Find a picture you might like, get some scissors, and just don't be afraid to get in there.

You know, just really mess it up.

And you can take your time and make anything you want.

We're going to design an outfit.

We have clothes as well too.

So I want you to look around and get some inspiration, right?

If I'm Lionel Richie, I'm really digging the vintage sweater he got on.

[Mike] What's the best way to get kids to kind of think like that?

I think just like let them roam in the atmosphere.

So right now, a lot of them, like are gravitating to just like trying stuff on right now.

You see like accessories and things like that.

You know, it's kind of what you are into, like your aspect of like fashion.

A small room Marcey set up to record music was the starting point.

Now he has a place 20 times bigger, visually exciting, celebrating art, and the history of this North Omaha neighborhood.

Visitors say it makes them feel like they're in New York, Berlin, or the '90s punk scene.

Talk about just being an entrepreneur, creating this type of thing.

Yeah, there was no like breadcrumbs, there was no like trails.

You know what I mean?

It was kind of like, you just going into uncharted territory and waters.

(attendee shouts) Okay, on six, we got Denise.

(attendees clapping and cheering) I love the people, I love the community, and Marcey is incredible.

Like incredible.

Why?

He just, he exudes this coolness and confidence, and he can take over the room in seconds and make it feel cool, make the event feel cool, whatever he is doing.

One, two, three.

"Art Battle!"

He's part of Omaha.

He's part of the struggle.

He's part of the, you know, the voice of, you know, us people.

You know, the ones that are underrepresented.

He's just doing it all, and it's just really inspiring because there's not really anybody else in Omaha, that I know of anyway, that's like doing all this, like he is.

It was me doing something for the community, the neighborhood that my grandparents and my mom lived in, right?

Being part of that fabric, everything else is going to work itself out.

This will get to the artist, this will get to the creators, right?

But the mission is being down here on 24th Street and providing something that's not here.

♪ I used to early rise, now I own my own business ♪ ♪ Built it from the ground, a lot of that was effort-givin ♪ [Mike] You can learn a lot about Marcey from the music that led to all this.

What kind stories are you trying to tell?

I'm trying to tell stories of like my life.

Stories from like my peers.

Stories I've heard.

♪ Had to plant more seeds so the vision grow ♪ [Mike] That vision is a unique community-focused place he calls a gateway for so many things.

What do you hope the impact is?

Like that rose that grows out of the concrete, but it becomes like a bouquet.

(passionate music)