Contemporary Indigeneity 2022

The University of Nebraska is a land-grant institution with campuses and programs on the past, present, and future homelands of the Pawnee, Ponca, Otoe-Missouria, Omaha, Dakota, Lakota, Kaw, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples, as well as those of the relocated Ho-Chunk, Sac and Fox, and Iowa Peoples.

April 1–August 20, 2022

For the fourth iteration of Contemporary Indigeneity, the Great Plains Art Museum sought Indigenous artists addressing issues and themes relevant to the contemporary Native American experience on the Great Plains. A panel of Native American art curators blindly reviewed the submitted works and made selections based on the artwork’s aesthetic merit and contribution to the field of contemporary Native art.

The museum and its parent organization, the Center for Great Plains Studies, are committed to increasing the representation of Native artists in their collections, exhibitions, and educational programs. Contemporary Indigeneity plays a key role in that initiative.

The Center for Great Plains Studies loosely defines the Great Plains as a region that stretches westward from the Missouri River at Omaha and Kansas City to the Rocky Mountains, and northward from the Texas Panhandle into the Canadian Prairie Provinces.

Selected Artists

Carlin Bear Don’t Walk

Alfreda Beartrack Algeo

S. Deloria Black Wolf

Ruthe Blalock Jones

Awanigiizhik Bruce

Ramona Cliff

Albertine Crow Shoe

Chase Kahwinhut Earles

Edmundo Encinas

Michael Fast Buffalo Horse

Tamara Faw Faw

Dustina Gill

Jessica Harjo

Benjamin Harjo, Jr.

Kelsey Jacobson

Penny Kagigebi

Bobby C. Martin

Robert Martinez

Victoria McKinney

Ted Moore

Wade Patton

Nelda Schrupp

Tyra Shackleford

Gene “IronMan” Smith

Tony Tiger

Jarica Walsh

Paula Whatley

Tamara Zephier Conroy

2022 Jurors

Tahnee Ahtoneharjo Growingthunder (Kiowa / Mvskoke / Seminole), Museum Director and Curator, Kiowa Tribe

Dakota Hoska (Oglála Lakȟóta, Pine Ridge Wounded Knee), Assistant Curator of Native Arts, Denver Art Museum

Joseph Williams (Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), Director of Native American Programs, Plains Art Museum

Related events

Juror Talk: April 1, 4 p.m., in-person and virtual

The Contemporary Indigeneity jurors and Ashley Wilkinson, Director of the Great Plains Art Museum, talk about the exhibition, Indigenous art, and the jury process.

First Friday: April 1, 5-7 p.m.

Opening reception for Contemporary Indigeneity