Since 2006, the Elizabeth Rubendall Foundation has generously funded an annual artist-in-residence program at the Great Plains Art Museum. During the residency, the artist interacts with the public, leads educational programs and tours, and creates a work of art for the museum’s permanent collection. The artist also receives a solo exhibition at the museum that coincides with their residency. In 2019, the museum opened the Elizabeth Rubendall Artist-in-Residence Studio and Education Lab to house the residency program. Made possible through a significant donation from Fred and Julie Hoppe, this studio provides a dedicated, flexible space in which the artist can work and engage with visitors.
There is no application process for the residency program; artists are identified and invited each year by museum staff. Interested in learning more about the program? Contact Museum Director and Curator Ashley Wilkinson at ashley.wilkinson@unl.edu or 402-472-0599.
Groups interested in booking a tour or interaction with the current artist in residence should contact Education and Outreach Associate Dominique Ellis at dellis25@unl.edu or 402-472-3964.
2026 Elizabeth Rubendall Artist in Residence
Elizabeth Burden, Whereas: Mary B, 2024, projection on 2-layer digital print.
Elizabeth Burden
Residency dates: September 1–12, 2026
Elizabeth Burden is an artist who engages in artistic archivy, blending multidisciplinary studio work with social practice to reflect on the past/present/future. She is intrigued by the pull of archives, the construction of histories, ephemeral inheritances, the role of memory and narrative, and the ways we make sense of it all. She uses painting, video, sound, coding, mapping, and other media to create space for critical thinking, critical feeling, critical reflection that may lead to a re-imagining of possibilities. She was born and raised in Lincoln; as the great-granddaughter of the first Black homesteaders (Henry and Mary Burden), she is a third-generation Nebraskan, now living in the Southwest.
Elsewhere / The Prairie Was Ours, Burden’s collaborative exhibition with Marci Sue Black and Willa Ahlschwede, will be on view at the museum from August 25 to December 19, 2026. Learn more about the exhibition.
Visitors are encouraged to visit the artist in the lower-level Elizabeth Rubendall Artist-in-Residence Studio & Education Lab during the museum’s public hours. To schedule a group tour, email dellis25@nebraska.edu.
Events
More details coming soon.
