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RSVP for our Spring Programming!

Exhibition Lecture - Thursday, March 13 6:00 PM

Archives versus Experiences: Native American Children in the Boarding School System

Dr. Susana Geliga will discuss working on the archives of the Genoa Indian School in Genoa, NE as well as her research on Native American children during the boarding school era. Dr. Geliga (Sicangu Lakota/ Boricua Taino) is an Assistant Professor of History and Native American Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. She is also a co-director for the Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. RSVP Today!

April Programs

Emerging Artist Series – Saturday, April 4 2:00 PM

Artist Mari Dailey will lead a free workshop open to the public. The SBMLC Emerging Artist Workshops are a series of art-making sessions led by regional emerging artists that take place at Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center. RSVP Today!

Exhibition Lecture – Thursday, April 10 6:00 PM

The Healing Power of Art

Creating portraits is a complex process that necessitates a series of profound interactions, fostering an environment conducive to open communication between the artist and the sitter. Mark Gilbert, Ph.D will discuss how such environments cultivate significant relationships that inspire reflection on often overlooked intersections of art, medicine, aesthetics, and ethics. Dr. Gilbert will emphasize how his experiences as an artist, particularly in engaging with individuals who have endured trauma and suffering, have led to nuanced insights regarding the therapeutic potential of art, impacting both the artist and the subject alike. RSVP Today!

Bak to Basics: Chess for All Ages - Sunday, April 13 1:00 PM

Join us for a family friendly introductory chess program. This youth program is for age 10 and above to learn about chess and magical realism in Samuel Bak’s paintings. Participants will engage in a brief history of chess followed by a lesson on how to play chess. This program is designed for beginning players and seasoned chess players who enjoy helping others learn. Please RSVP in pairs; youth participants must have an adult present. RSVP Today!

All SBMLC programming is FREE and open to the public, but preregistration is required. RSVP Today!

Flyer for SBMLC's War Games Exhibition. Seen in the flyer is an image of a boy wearing a button down coat and a hat. The boy is holding up a small cloth. Behind the boy is a wooden silhouette of the boy and a stone wall structure.

War Games explores how Samuel Bak relates his childhood experiences - from his direct renderings of the Holocaust in his watercolors from 1945 to 1948 - to a selection of his contemporary paintings and drawings. Through the presentation of toys and game pieces, Bak draws our attention to the realities of childhoods spent in zones of conflict and how children are pawns used by warring parties. The exhibition has one gallery room dedicated to historic and contemporary instances of children human rights violations. The final room of the exhibition showcases Mr. Bak’s 2024 series Tools of Trade. These works represent his fears for children whose lives and futures are destroyed by war and the escalation of violence in the Middle East. As much as he mourns this age of destruction, he also depicts his unending belief in humanity’s ability to mend and his hope that somehow peace and reason will triumph.

Exhibition funding generously sponsored by:

An image of sponsor's logos and names who support SBMLC. The logos displayed are Douglas County Visitor Investment Fund, The Sherwood Foundation, Omaha Steaks, Valmont, and Mutual of Omaha. The names displayed are Harley & Beth Schrager, Milton S. and Corinne N. Livingston Foundation Fund, and Cynthia Epstein and David Wiesman.

Samuel Bak Museum education and operational support provided by:

An image of sponsor's logos and names who support SBMLC. The logos displayed are Weitz Family Foundation, Iowa West Foundation, and Omaha Public Schools Foundation. The names displayed are Anonymous, Webster Family Foundation, and Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation.

Museum Team Spotlight

Meet Kara Walters – SBMLC Student Worker

I am a student at University of Nebraska Omaha, and I am studying Molecular and Biomedical Biology. I am concentrating in Medical Humanities and Minoring in Chemistry and Studio Art. I am going to graduate in 2026! My favorite part about working at Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center is the time in between exhibits when we help with deinstallation and installation. This is my favorite time because I get to do hands-on work moving paintings around and nailing holes in the walls. Some interesting facts about me are that I love to paint, I want to become a medical illustrator, and my favorite animal is a poisonous dart frog.

Favorite Museum Artwork: Red City (1960) This is my favorite work of Samuel Bak’s because it was the first painting of his that I saw and felt I absolutely understood the message he was trying to convey. The bright and deep reds of the painting are unreal in a way that cannot be photographed.

A graphic showing two images. The image on the left is a portrait photo of Kara Walters. Kara has long light brown hair and is seen wearing mauve pink lipstick, earrings, a dark shirt, and dark leather jacket. The right image is a photo of Samuel Bak's artwork, Red City. The painting shows dark shades of red with highlights of light painted to form a textuary, uniquely shaped figure.

Free Audio Tour

The Museum offers a free audio tour available for visitors in English, Spanish, and French. Please bring your headphones and a smart device to scan a QR code at each stop.

Guided Tour Requests

Would you like a Private Guided Tour? Complete the Guided Tour Request Form for more information.

Meeting Reservation Requests

Interested in reserving the SBMLC Classroom for your next meeting? Read our Reservation Agreement to see if your group is eligible. Complete the Reservation Request Form to get the conversation started. Additional information can be found on the Museum's Meeting and Event Spaces website page.

Featured Events

Annual Juried Student Exhibition – March 10 – April 4

Student Artist, Devyn Glenn’s Bak inspired artwork was selected for the Juried Student Show. The Annual Juried Student Exhibition is free and open to public on Monday – Friday from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM, located inside the Weber Fine Arts Building.

Two line drawings of a figure – The left drawing shows the head and torso of a man sitting on a bolder. His face is turned to the left. He leans on his right arm. He rests his extended left arm on his knee. The rest of his body is trapped in a pyramid shaped boulder. His body is partially made of stone. Both arms are broken but hover close to his body. The right line drawing is a mirror image of the left one but the man's arm, head, and torso are formed by three large stone tablets. Their outlines are broken to mimic the shape of the man in the left drawing. The extended left arm is formed of a series of wood planks nailed to wooden posts that emerge of an empty landscape. There is a single tree on a distant hill to the right of the stone form.

UNL Research Council Distinguished Lecture – Thursday, March 27 7:00 PM Conspiracy Theories in Nazi/Neo-Nazi Discourse

Dr. Andreas Musolff, a Cognitive Linguist from University of East Anglia, UK, presents at Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center for an Institute for Holocaust Education (IHE) Week of Understanding event. RSVP today!

A promotional flyer with details about the lecture. Seen on the flyer is a portrait photo of Dr. Andres Musolf. Dr. Musolf is mostly bald and is seen wearing rectangle glasses, a dark blazer, dark sweater, with a light collared undershirt.