The Visualizing Reconciliation group works to raise the visibility of Indigenous peoples in our region and to emphasize the persistence of Indigenous culture through the dynamic medium of contemporary art. Their projects include an upcoming exhibition of Otoe-Missouria artists at the Great Plains Art Museum.
Dr. Jessica Moore Harjo, Ph.D., Weomepe, Otoe-Missouria, Osage, Pawnee, Sac & Fox, is an interdisciplinary artist, graphic designer, and entrepreneur. Dr. Harjo received her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Oklahoma State University, and her Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Design from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Harjo’s most prominent artwork is a permanent public art installation titled “People of the Great Sky, Constellations of the Land” (2023), a 65’ sculpture that spans the ceiling in the entrance of the Oklahoma State Capitol.
Dr. Harjo’s art explores new relationships between the digital and traditional art worlds, and the interactions between colors, emotion, materials, shape, and space. Over the past few years her digital art has shifted to include intersections of textiles, wearable art, public art, and architecture. Her research interests are in design and typography as well as intersections of cultural and visual representation affecting social awareness and identity.
Ashley Wilkinson is the director and curator of the Great Plains Art Museum at the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Prior to joining the Great Plains Art Museum in late 2018, Wilkinson held various curatorial positions at the Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. During her seven-year tenure at Sheldon, she contributed to over 100 exhibitions and continued her research focus on American Regionalism and New Deal printmaking through curated installations and publications. While at Sheldon, Wilkinson was a pivotal member of the team that produced three major collection catalogs published by the University of Nebraska Press. As the director of the Great Plains Art Museum, Wilkinson has increased the representation of diverse voices in the museum’s exhibitions and collections by working with contemporary artists from across the Great Plains.
Sarah Rowe is a visual artist based in Omaha, Nebraska. Her work opens cross cultural dialogues by utilizing methods of painting, printmaking, textiles, performance, and Native American ceremony in unconventional ways. Rowe projects her vision of contemporary Indigenous experience into the mix with an offbeat enchantment. Her imagined landscapes are bold and vibrant, containing a shape-shifting bestiary of tales both familiar and strange. Rowe holds a BA in Studio Art from Webster University, studying in St. Louis, Missouri and Vienna, Austria. She is of Lakota and Ponca descent.
Elizabeth Katt, Executive Director of Public Art Lincoln, leads the development of a nationally recognized public art collection in partnership with the City of Lincoln, Nebraska. As a multidisciplinary artist, her work explores themes of human connection and life’s fragility, shaped by her early years near the University of Chicago and her enduring commitment to advocacy and human rights.
Originally trained in healthcare, Elizabeth earned a B.S. in Nursing from Emory University and served eight years in the U.S. Air Force, eventually working in the USAF Surgeon General’s office. After transitioning from healthcare, she pursued her artistic passions, earning a B.F.A. and B.A. in Art History from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, followed by an M.F.A. from the University of Maryland. Elizabeth’s sculpture and installation work, recognized by the International Sculpture Center with the 2022 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, continues to probe the intersections of art and human experience.
Sandra Williams (Associate Professor of Art at UNL) is an interdisciplinary artist who works across various practices, including cut paper, painting, murals, and community art. Her work has been exhibited at SOFA New York; Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago; the Museum of Contemporary Art in St. Louis, Missouri; and National Amazon University in Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Her work is included in the Howard Tullman Collection, The Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, Oregon, and private collections.
She received artist residencies at Studios of Key West, Florida; Rogers Art Loft in Las Vegas, Nevada; Arquetopia, Puebla, Mexico; the Contemporary Crafts Museum in Portland, Oregon; and Amazon Conservation Association in Madre de Dios, Peru. Recognition for her work includes a Mayor’s Art Award, a Hixson-Lied Award for Senior Faculty Achievement in Creative Activity, a Hixson-Lied Curriculum Development Award, and two Hixson-Lied Awards for Engagement. Sandra is the Visual Arts Chair for the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association.
Marci Sue Black is a member of the Jiwere-Nutachi (Otoe-Missouria), and an Ioway descendant. Her artistic endeavors have included painting and drawing in an array of mediums, graphic design, digital art, traditional Indigenous mediums such as sewing regalia, beading, making jewelry, leather handbags and belts with her company Black Elk Creations. Black has branched out further in her artistic pursuits as an Associate Producer and Script Screener with Deer Woman Productions. She is ready to share her unique perspective as a Jiwere-Nutachi mother, daughter, sister, auntie, artist and member of a large Indigenous community.
Of all the things Black has been apart of, two stand out as her magnum opus both in the gravity of meaning and in service to the people in her tribe, “Marking the Heart” and the documentary for “Walking in the Footsteps of Our Ancestors.” MTH was a program that provided headstones for unmarked graves of enrolled Otoe-Missouria tribal members. Black designed Otoe-Missouria florals, clan animals and artwork for headstones that honored legacies and helped families heal. The “Walking in The Footsteps of Our Ancestors” documentary and project as a whole, has given her so much happiness and meaning in life on top of sharing beautiful stories, history and voices of her people.