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.
First Floor, Main & South Galleries
Collection Connections: Art in Conversation
January 20–July 25, 2026
In 2026, the Center for Great Plains Studies and its Great Plains Art Museum celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Center and the 45th anniversary of the museum’s opening. To commemorate these milestones, this exhibition highlights artworks from the collection that span the museum’s history, from the founding donation to recent acquisitions. Rather than presenting these selections in a chronological arrangement, artworks are paired or grouped to focus on formal and thematic connections and emphasize the diverse perspectives that tell the multifaceted stories of the Great Plains.
Support for this exhibition is provided by the Charles W. Guildner Great Plains Art Museum Excellence Fund.
Above: Fremont Ellis, Autumn Aspens (or Taos Woodland Scene), 1929, oil on canvas, 29 x 37 inches (framed), gift of Dr. John and Elizabeth Christlieb, 1982.0032.
First Floor, West Gallery
“All the Beauty You Can See”: Dwight Kirsch in Nature
January 20–July 25, 2026
A native Nebraskan and prolific artist, Dwight Kirsch (1899–1981) was an important figure in the Lincoln arts community in the early-to-mid twentieth century, serving as chair of the University of Nebraska Art Department and playing an integral role in the Nebraska Art Association. The Great Plains Art Museum’s extensive collection of Kirsch’s work spans his time teaching in Nebraska through his last years at the Colorado State Veterans Nursing Home. This exhibition presents a small sampling of those holdings, each selected to demonstrate Kirsch’s deep and lifelong fascination with conveying the nuances and beauty of the natural world through art.
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Above: Dwight Kirsch, Big Sandhill near Burwell, Nebraska, with Melting Snow at Sunset, 1940s, gouache on bogus paper, 18 3/4 x 23 7/8 inches, gift of JoAnn Kelly Alexander, 2008.0003.0074.
Mezzanine Gallery
Indigenous Ceramics from the Collection
January 20–July 25, 2026
This permanent collection spotlight exhibition in the museum’s Mezzanine Gallery features diverse ceramic works by Indigenous artists of the Great Plains and nearby Southwest region.
Above: Chase Kahwinhut Earles (Caddo Nation), The Caddo Story of Night and Day, 2016, low-fire clay; hand-coiled, burnished, kiln-fired, and pit fire smudged, 10 x 8 (diam) inches, purchased through the generosity of the Woods Charitable Fund, 2016.0008.0001. © Chase Kahwinhut Earles.
LOWER-LEVEL GALLERY
With a Little Help from Our Friends: New Perspectives on the Collection
March 6–August 8, 2026
Organized in honor of the Center for Great Plains Studies’ 50th anniversary in 2026, this exhibition highlights the important interdisciplinary focus of the Center and its core intellectual community, the Great Plains Fellows. The Fellows as a group are scholars and community members who are concerned with the past, present, and future of the Great Plains, and they support the Center and its mission in myriad ways.
For this exhibition, 20 Fellows representing diverse disciplines and all four University of Nebraska campuses were invited to select an artwork from the Great Plains Art Museum’s permanent collection and respond to it in any way they chose, whether that’s examining the work through their scholarly lens or through their own lived experiences. This project provides a new avenue for Fellows to engage with the Center and Museum while also sharing fresh and varied perspectives on works in its collection.
Artwork: Sarah Rowe, Lakota/Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, b. 1981, Omaha, NE, For My Fleabitten Diamond, 2022, oil, acrylic, and ink on canvas, commissioned for the Elizabeth Rubendall Artist-in-Residence Collection, 2022.0004.0001
Banner: Richard Terrell, b. 1940, Joliet, IL, Sandhills #3, 2012, pastel on paper, gift of the artist, 2017.0008.0001
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50 Years at the Center for Great Plains Studies
In 2026, the Center for Great Plains Studies and its Great Plains Art Museum celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Center and the 45th anniversary of the museum’s opening. If you value regional study, Great Plains art, and strengthening our collective connection to this place, consider supporting us this year. In celebration of our 50th anniversary, we've set a goal to raise $50,000 to help us continue our work.