Museum of Nebraska Art - The Collection

The Collection

The Nebraska Art Collection covers over 175 years of art and art history. Many historic artists with Nebraska connections have their work in the permanent collection, such as Alice Eliza Cleaver, Robert Henri, John Philip Falter, and Frank Rinehart. MONA is also home to works by more modern artists, like Thomas Hart Benton, Wright Morris, and Leonard Thiessen, as well as living artists such as Jun Kaneko and Jane Golding Marie.

Additionally, the Collection includes works by artist explorers who documented early Native American life and natural history in Nebraska, including George Catlin, John James Audubon, and Karl Bodmer. Exhibitions of these artists are often supplemented with art and historical artifacts from other Nebraska museums, including the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, Joslyn Art Museum, and the University of Nebraska State Museum.

MONA and the Nebraska Art Collection also play host to rotating exhibitions by currently active Nebraska artists who are building reputations but do not yet have their work in permanent collections. Though the permanent collection tends to be aesthetically conservative, the rotating exhibitions are often very modern, progressive, and challenging. Notable exhibition participants have included polymer artist Sandra Williams, photographer Roger Bruhn, and sculptor Elizabeth Kronfield.