Exhibition featuring 24 Otoe-Missouria artists to open Sept. 5

The Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln will open “Reflections of Our People, Our Ways, Our Land” on Sept. 5. It is the first-ever exhibition to center on Otoe-Missouria artists and their creative work.

Twenty-four artists from the tribe were selected to co-create the exhibition, reflecting on healing, reconciliation, and reconnecting to the land. The artworks represent a wide array of mediums, from traditional to contemporary styles. The exhibition runs through Dec. 20.

“I am absolutely moved by the pieces that the artists have contributed,” said Jessica Moore Harjo (Otoe-Missouria/Osage/Pawnee/Sac and Fox), curatorial director for the exhibition. “It truly shows the power we are as Otoe-Missouria people and the love we all have for one another as a community.”

Moore Harjo described the works as “an incredible testimony to resiliency.”

Bill Ganzel | Ganzel Group Communications

An opening reception for the artists and the public is 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 19 at the museum, which sits on Otoe-Missouria homelands.

The exhibition is a key part of the Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors: Re-Indigenizing Southeast Nebraska project, funded by the Mellon Foundation. The initiative, a partnership between the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma and the Center for Great Plains Studies, aims to promote healing and reconciliation in the region by reconnecting the tribe to one of its homelands in southeast Nebraska and engaging non-Native people with the history and ongoing presence of the Otoe-Missouria and other Indigenous peoples in the region. 

As part of the creative process, selected artists attended the 2024 Otoe-Missouria Day and participated in an artist retreat at Homestead National Historical Park near Beatrice.

Also opening Sept. 5 on the museum’s mezzanine level is an exhibition from the tribe and the Gage County Historical Society that shares the tribe’s history at the Big Blue Reservation in Nebraska.

The “Reflections” exhibition is supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art, which expands narratives of American art through its grants, collection and initiatives. With offices in Chicago and Paris, it works with organizations to foster intercultural dialogues and encourage transformative practices, locally and globally.

The Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St., is open to the public 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, click here.