News
CCC-Grand Island Names Outstanding Alumni Award Winner
May 19, 2020
Joni Ransom
Nia Karmann of Omaha has received the 2020 Outstanding Alumni Award from Central Community College-Grand Island.
She is the owner of Nye Street Studio in Omaha and is an award-winning, professional photographer who specializes in fine art and portrait photography. She’s been featured on NET’s Nebraska Stories, Nebraska Public Radio and NTV’s The Good Life, and her work has been showcased in art galleries, magazines, online publications, books and calendars.
Karmann started taking pictures on film cameras when she was 9 years old in Hall County 4-H. She had her first professional photography show as a senior in high school and then went on to polish her business skills at CCC’s Grand Island and Hastings campuses.
As a student with a disability, she had to overcome adversity and convince naysayers to pursue her passion for photography, but she continues to build her career by submitting her work in a variety of venues throughout the Midwest. She also continues traveling throughout the country and overseas capturing moments in her unique style to build her portfolio.
Her photography has received local and national awards and been published in an international magazine. Her 2019 recognitions include winning second place at the Grand Island Art in the Park for a banyan tree photo from Hawaii; being selected as the featured artist at the Sump Memorial Library in Papillion from June 1 through July 31, and getting published in the Summer 2019 Fine Lines Book as an honorable mention winner. She received that last award as a part of the Omaha Artists Inc.’s Chillin Winter Art Show, and it was her photo featured on the wraparound cover of the Fine Lines Autumn 2018 issue.
Karmann is the current president and adult representative of the Nebraska Spina Bifida Organization. In 2019 she was the 4-H photography judge for the Nebraska State Fair.