Great Plains Art Museum

05/29/2026

We'd like to thank everyone who supported the Center for Great Plains Studies and the Great Plains Art Museum during Give to Lincoln Day. We appreciate everyone who supports by donating, taking part in programming, or visiting the museum. Thank you!

05/28/2026

TODAY is Give to Lincoln Day! A chance for our community to support organizations that make an impact in our city. Consider a donation today to help support our free public programming at the Center for Great Plains Studies and Great Plains Art Museum. Your donation supports a unique institution that cultivates awareness of and engagement with the diverse people, cultures, and natural environments of the Great Plains.
https://givetolincoln.com/nonprofits/center-for-great-plains-studies-and-great-plains-art-museum

Since 1976, the Center has connected our community to the Great Plains through free public programming and scholarship, and our Great Plains Art Museum serves as a gathering place for education and artistic expression.

Every donation you make as part of Give to Lincoln Day makes a bigger impact because nonprofits also get a proportional share of a $650,000 match fund provided by the Lincoln Community Foundation and generous sponsors.
We appreciate your support!

05/26/2026

May 28 is Give to Lincoln Day!
Give to Lincoln Day is a chance for our community to support organizations that make an impact in our city. Every donation you make now through May 28 in support of the Great Plains Art Museum and Center for Great Plains Studies makes a bigger impact because nonprofits also get a proportional share of a $650,000 match fund provided by the Lincoln Community Foundation and generous sponsors.
But you don't have to wait! Donate today at: https://givetolincoln.com/nonprofits/center-for-great-plains-studies-and-great-plains-art-museum

05/15/2026

20 Great Plains Fellows chose the works in the "With a Little Help from Our Friends: New Perspectives on the Collection" exhibition, on view through Aug. 8 at the Great Plains Art Museum.

04/14/2026

Have you ever wanted to wear a map of the Great Plains? Here's your chance! In celebration of the Center for Great Plains Studies' 50th year, these tri-blend map shirts are only available at the Great Plains Art Museum store.
Open Tue-Sat, 10am-5pm

04/08/2026

Hear from our upcoming Artist in Residence Elizabeth Burden and her co creators:

Three artists are connected by one thing, deep Nebraskan roots that stretch over generations and are now being displayed at the Center for Great Plain Studies.

03/30/2026

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Great Plains Art Museum is highlighting women artists throughout March as part of the campaign led by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Learn more about the NMWA’s campaign at nmwa.org/support/advocacy/5womenartists/

Can you name five women artists?
Madeline E. Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo) creates carved pottery that continues an art form passed down through her family. Learning from her grandmother (with whom she shares a name), Naranjo has been working with the medium since 1991, creating contemporary patterns through deep carving. She explains that "Let’s Walk in the Beauty of Our Garden" conveys “the process and importance of planting corn, from planting, through nurturing the plant, to harvesting. Corn is an important staple in Pueblo life as it provides food [and] is also used in ceremonies.”

Visit the Great Plains Art Museum through July 25 to see this artwork on view in "Collection Connections: Art in Conversation."

Artwork:
Madeline E. Naranjo
Santa Clara Pueblo
"Let’s Walk in the Beauty of Our Garden," 2022
Carved ceramic
4 7/8 x 5 1/4 (diam)
Gift of Lehn and Mary Straub through the University of Nebraska Foundation, 2024.0010.0018
© Madeline E. Naranjo

03/23/2026

Our collections manager, Casey Seger-Franklin is highlighted in this Nebraska Today story: Casey's career has taken him from one end of the Great Plains to the other — and his current work places him at the heart of preserving pieces of the region’s history.

Casey Seger-Franklin’s career has taken him from one end of the Great Plains to the other, and his current work places him at the heart of preserving pieces of the region’s history. Seger-Franklin, collections manager at the Great Plains Art Museum and Center for Great Plains Studies, brings a b...

03/23/2026

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Great Plains Art Museum is highlighting women artists throughout March as part of the campaign led by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Learn more about the NMWA’s campaign at nmwa.org/support/advocacy/5womenartists/.

Can you name five women artists?

Born into the Acoma Pueblo, Marilyn (Lewis) Ray began working with clay at age 12, learning from her grandmother, Dolores S. Sanchez. Ray has focused on figural work rather throughout her celebrated career; she creates animals, playing children, and storytellers, using the traditional three colors found in Acoma pottery (white, black, and orange) as well as others that she developed by collecting different colors of clay from Acoma Pueblo land. Ray is also known for her friendship bowls that often include children hanging over the side along with birds, butterflies, and ladybugs, elements she incorporates into her work because they remind her of her childhood. In this pot—which includes many of the signature features of Ray’s work—one of the figures has the name “Lewis” written on the back, likely a reference to the artist’s family.

Visit the Great Plains Art Museum through July 25 to see this artwork on view in "Indigenous Ceramics from the Collection."

Artwork:
Marilyn Ray
Acoma Pueblo
"Pot with Figures," 1999
Polychrome painted ceramic with leather and wood
9 1/2 x 8 x 8 1/4 inches
Gift of Jean Jeffrey through the University of Nebraska Foundation, 2025.0003.0002.a-b

03/16/2026

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Great Plains Art Museum is highlighting women artists throughout March as part of the campaign led by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Learn more about the NMWA’s campaign at nmwa.org/support/advocacy/5womenartists/.

Can you name five women artists?

Sharon Naranjo Garcia has been making pottery from a young age, learning from her grandmother, Christina Naranjo. Naranjo Garcia works in the traditional Santa Clara Pueblo style, using locally gathered materials and the same techniques as her ancestors to create a variety of carved or highly polished pots, like this water jar. The artist describes her process: “The clay is built up using hand coils that are mended and shaped with hand and smoothed with gourds. The pots are dried, sanded, and an additional clay slip is added and then stone polished. The pottery is finished in a traditional outdoor firing. Each pot is unique as each step adds its own mark to the overall finished piece.”

Visit the Great Plains Art Museum through July 25 to see this artwork on view in "Indigenous Ceramics from the Collection."

Artwork:
Sharon Naranjo Garcia
Santa Clara Pueblo
"Water Jar," circa 2021
Ceramic
8 5/8 x 10 1/8 (diam.) inches
Gift of Lehn and Mary Straub through the University of Nebraska Foundation, 2024.0010.0017