First Friday at Great Plains Art Museum

The Great Plains Art Museum is open late June 5, 5-7 p.m. with four exhibitions, light refreshments, and a pinwheel-making activity suitable for ages 5 and up.

On View:
“With a Little Help from Our Friends: New Perspectives on the Collection”
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. 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.

“Collection Connections: Art in Conversation”
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.

“‘All the Beauty You Can See’: Dwight Kirsch in Nature”
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.

“Indigenous Ceramics from the Collection”
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.