'I decided if I was going to bust my back it was going to be doing something I love,' Lee says

'I decided if I was going to bust my back it was going to be doing something I love,' Lee says

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'I decided if I was going to bust my back it was going to be doing something I love,' Lee says

Razor Wire Productions is breathing fresh air into a former art supplies studio in South Omaha and giving the owner a second chance to live out his dream of doing what he loves.

"I came up with Razor Wire Productions while I was sharing a cell with Dvo at Omaha Correctional Center," Kevin Lee said.

Lee and Mike Dvo were former cellmates that tapped into their creative sides while behind bars.

"We did all of the concerts; Fourth of July and New Year's Eve, things like that to give the inmates something to do," Dvo said. "What? We were in a cell for almost four years together? So, we got to know each other pretty well."

Back then it was just an idea it wasn't until Lee's last incarceration in a max security prison in Texas that changed him for good.

"What really hit me wasn't so much my stay in Beaumont but my absence from here because four people that I had lived with within the last 10 years all OD'd within a year on heroin which is what I was addicted to," Lee said.

Both are out and clean from drugs and crime. They found healing through art and are ready to share it with the community.

Lee leaned into an opportunity to open a tattoo and art gallery combo earlier this year at 18th and Vinton streets.

"I decided if I was going to bust my back it was going to be doing something I love," Lee said.

Dvo left his former tattoo shop to join Lee.

"I can look at things and get inspiration from things and this is cool because it changes all the time," Dvo said.

Artist Mykaylan Burner has pieces all around Razor Wire. She found the place by accident.

"I came looking for an arts supply store that used to be here," Burner said.

She said it offers her space to grow.

"I meet someone new every time and everyone is spectacular. They are all genuinely good people who love to spread their creativity with the world," Burner said.

From Wednesday open mic nights to Second Fridays on Vinton, Lee wants Razor Wire Productions to be a place for everyone.

"Artists via tattoo or people been in prison, whatever, can come in here and it's a safe place," Lee said.

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