The University of Nebraska is a land-grant institution with campuses and programs on the past, present, and future homelands of the Pawnee, Ponca, Otoe-Missouria, Omaha, Dakota, Lakota, Kaw, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples, as well as those of the relocated Ho-Chunk, Sac and Fox, and Iowa Peoples.
April 1–August 20, 2022
For the fourth iteration of Contemporary Indigeneity, the Great Plains Art Museum sought Indigenous artists addressing issues and themes relevant to the contemporary Native American experience on the Great Plains. A panel of Native American art curators blindly reviewed the submitted works and made selections based on the artwork’s aesthetic merit and contribution to the field of contemporary Native art.
The museum and its parent organization, the Center for Great Plains Studies, are committed to increasing the representation of Native artists in their collections, exhibitions, and educational programs. Contemporary Indigeneity plays a key role in that initiative.
The Center for Great Plains Studies loosely defines the Great Plains as a region that stretches westward from the Missouri River at Omaha and Kansas City to the Rocky Mountains, and northward from the Texas Panhandle into the Canadian Prairie Provinces.
Selected Artists
Carlin Bear Don’t Walk
Alfreda Beartrack Algeo
S. Deloria Black Wolf
Ruthe Blalock Jones
Awanigiizhik Bruce
Ramona Cliff
Albertine Crow Shoe
Chase Kahwinhut Earles
Edmundo Encinas
Michael Fast Buffalo Horse
Tamara Faw Faw
Dustina Gill
Jessica Harjo
Benjamin Harjo, Jr.
Kelsey Jacobson
Penny Kagigebi
Bobby C. Martin
Robert Martinez
Victoria McKinney
Ted Moore
Wade Patton
Nelda Schrupp
Tyra Shackleford
Gene “IronMan” Smith
Tony Tiger
Jarica Walsh
Paula Whatley
Tamara Zephier Conroy
2022 Jurors
Tahnee Ahtoneharjo Growingthunder (Kiowa / Mvskoke / Seminole), Museum Director and Curator, Kiowa Tribe
Dakota Hoska (Oglála Lakȟóta, Pine Ridge Wounded Knee), Assistant Curator of Native Arts, Denver Art Museum
Joseph Williams (Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), Director of Native American Programs, Plains Art Museum
More
Juror Talk: April 1, 4 p.m., see video
The Contemporary Indigeneity jurors and Ashley Wilkinson, Director of the Great Plains Art Museum, talk about the exhibition, Indigenous art, and the jury process.
First Friday: April 1, 5-7 p.m.
Opening reception for Contemporary Indigeneity
PDF of catalog