Nebraska is not bountiful with places for simply viewing fine art. But its handful of art museums feature a wealth of exhibits by historically and internationally renowned artists, as well as by local talent. Of course, the bigger cities like Omaha and Lincoln are the best places for art museums. Galleries provide a more focused offering of art with the option to buy, and are more abundant in various locales around the state. If you can't find what you're looking for at either a gallery or a museum, you can always contact the Nebraska Art Council to find out if any art festivals or events will take place during your stay.
Museums: Three Times the Fun
There are three main fine art museums located throughout Nebraska.
The Joslyn Art Museum is the largest and most prestigious museum of fine art in Nebraska. Located in Omaha, the Joslyn Art Museum first opened in 1931, and has since served as a top place for visual arts, featuring art exhibits ranging from historic pieces to modern-day works. The museum's permanent collection specifically focuses on European and American art from the 19th and 20th centuries, including artists like Lorenzo di Credi, El Greco, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Albert Bierstadt, and Thomas Hart Benton. You'll also find pieces by such renowned American artists as Grant Wood, Jackson Pollock, Dale Chihuly, and George Segal. Best known for its collection of art from the American West, the Joslyn Museum has received international acclaim for its watercolors and prints by Swiss artist Karl Bodmer, which document his 1832-34 travels to the Missouri River frontier with German Prince Maximilian of Wied. In addition to its prominent permanent collection, the museum also holds special exhibitions annually, along with musical performances, educational lectures, and art classes.
The Sheldon Gallery and Sculpture Garden at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is one of the country's leading collegiate art museums. The Sheldon is home to two separate collections: the Nebraska Art Association collection, dating back to 1888; and the University of Nebraska collection, begun in 1929. The works in both collections combine for a total of more than 12,000 pieces of fine American art. Many genres are represented, including 19th-century landscape and still life, American Impressionism, early Modernism, geometric abstraction, Abstract Expressionism, pop, minimalism, and contemporary art. Renowned master artists like Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Mary Cassatt, and Georgia O'Keeffe are featured at the Sheldon. Outside, the sculpture garden features 30 monumental sculpted pieces by artists such as Gaston Lachaise, Jacques Lipchitz, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, David Smith, and William Tucker. Along with showing the works in its permanent collection, the museum also hosts visiting exhibitions. It totals about 20 exhibitions annually, focusing on American art in an array of media.
For artwork by native Nebraskans and pieces inspired by the Cornhusker State, visit the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearny. Housed in a 1911 Renaissance revival building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, MONA's permanent collection is made up of more than 5,000 pieces by artists of local, national, and international acclaim. Nebraska's official state art collection has also been located at the museum since 1979. At MONA, you'll find works by artists like George Catlin, early Nebraskans Robert Henri and J. Laurie Wallace, and modern masters such as Grant Reynard and John Falter. The museum's holdings also include a collection by John James Audubon that focuses on indigenous Nebraskan wildlife. Aside from viewing MONA's fabulous collection of art indoors, you can also take a relaxing walk outside through the Cliff Hillegass Sculpture Garden. You also have the option of purchasing some artful souvenirs at the museum's art shop.
Speaking of local talents, one of the Cornhusker State's most prominent and influential artists of the 20th century was Augustus Dunbier. Dunbier was born in Polk County during the infamous snowstorm of 1888, and he showed his first professional work of art at the age of 10 at the Trans-Mississippi Export in Omaha. Working up until a year before his death at the age of 89, Dunbier became known as an Impressionist (though he didn't consider himself so), painting landscapes, still life's, and portraits.
Going For Galleries
There are considerably more art galleries in Nebraska than there are museums. So, if the aforementioned museums don't meet your need for fine art, exhibits at local galleries just may do the trick.
If you want to browse fine art, perhaps with the intent on making a purchase or two, check out any of Nebraska's art galleries. As with museums, the places with the best offering of galleries are Lincoln and Omaha. As the biggest city in the state, Omaha has the most galleries from which to choose. You'll find art spots like Anderson O'Brien Art, which has been providing works by renowned regional artists like Michael Howard, Karen Kunc, and Peter Hamel for more than 30 years. The Anderson O'Brien gallery represents works in a range of media, including printmaking, sculpting, drawing, and painting. Also in Omaha, the Hot Shops Art Center includes several galleries, and it's particularly well-known as the "home of anything molten," with works like welded and cast-metal sculptures. Thomas D. Mangelsen's Images of Nature gallery and Sports Editions Collectible Sports Art are a few other Omaha galleries.
In Lincoln, the Against The Wall gallery features works by local artists like Joel Satore, Julie Carter, and Doug Johnson. Gallery Nine, Period Gallery, and So-Oh Fine Art are among the other art galleries you'll find in the capital city. Elsewhere in the state, gallery options include Wildwood Art Gallery in Nebraska City, Louisville Art Gallery (Louisville), the Mainstreet Gallery in Pierce, and the Prairie Wind Art Center in Grand Island.
You'll find art in many forms while visiting Nebraska, particularly by way of art galleries. The works of local artisans dominate the visual arts scene in the Cornhusker State, but pieces by famous masters can be seen at the few museums in the state as well. So, no matter if you want to explore the talents of native Nebraskan artists at a local gallery or browse international masterpieces at a museum, on Nebraska's canvas you can paint the town red.
