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A horizontal logo for the Samuel Bak Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, combining an abstract geometric pattern with the museum's name in a clean, sans-serif font. The pattern consists of overlapping rectangles in neutral colors, while the text is dark blue.
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Workshops, lectures, weekend chess, and more - RSVP to our free spring programming! 

Mari Dailey - Emerging Artist Series – Saturday April 5, 2:00 PM

After reflecting on life and dreamt perspectives, Artist Mari Dailey invites participants to learn how to create snapshot narratives, drawn on birch panels while employing techniques of shading. As part of this workshop, participants will tour our current exhibition. This is a FREE event, but preregistration is required.

 

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. This is a FREE event, but preregistration is required.

 

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 ages 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. This is a FREE event, but preregistration is required.

 

Liz Boutin - Emerging Artist Series – Saturday April 26, 2:00 PM

Following a discussion on color, emotion, and symbolism, Artist Liz Boutin will lead participants to create a visual that explores life experiences. At the end of the workshop, everyone will bring together their works to create a mural. As part of this workshop, participants will tour our current exhibition. This is a FREE event, but preregistration is required.

 

May Programs

Viy - Emerging Artist Series – Saturday May 3, 2:00 PM
Participants are invited to bring in ‘parts of themselves’, things they’ve been holding onto hidden in junk drawers and trunks in the attic. Artist, Viy will guide participants in reflecting on the cyclical themes of decay, repair, and hope as participants transform these objects and the memories they hold. As part of this workshop, participants will tour our current exhibition. This is a FREE event, but preregistration is required.

 

Bak to Basics: Chess for All Ages - Sunday May 5, 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. This is a FREE event, but preregistration is required.


Exhibition Lecture – Saturday, May 10, 2:00 PM
Music of Lullabies, Nightmares, and Child's Play
UNO's Professor of Flute, Dr. Christine Beard, joined by talented students, alumni, and faculty from the UNO School of Music, will present a deeply moving concert featuring powerful compositions crafted to offer comfort, spotlight the harrowing impact of war on children, and give a voice to the voiceless. Experience music that serves as a beacon of hope, illuminating the path toward a brighter tomorrow. This is a FREE event, but preregistration is required.

 

All SBMLC programming is FREE and open to the public, but preregistration is required. RSVP Today!
A promotional poster for the "War Games" exhibition at the Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha. The top portion of the poster features a painting by Samuel Bak titled "Unknown," created in 2007, using oil on canvas and measuring 24 1/8 x 20 1/2 inches. The painting depicts a figure, possibly a child, wearing a hat and oversized gloves, holding up a piece of paper with abstract shapes resembling landmasses or battle plans. The figure is surrounded by wooden structures and other indistinct forms, rendered in muted blues, browns, and grays against a hazy teal background. Below the artwork, in large white sans-serif font, is the title "WAR GAMES." Further down, in a green rectangular box, the text "WEDNESDAY SATURDAY JANUARY 22 - JUNE 29" is displayed in white. At the bottom right, the logo for the Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center is shown, featuring a stylized geometric element and the museum's name in a stacked format.

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:

A white background displays logos and text acknowledging various foundations and organizations in support of Samuel Bak Musuem: The Learning Center. From top to bottom and left to right, they include: Douglas County Nebraska logo with "Douglas County Nebraska Dedicated Service Community Involvement" written in blue and red text featuring red, white, and blue waves above the text; The Sherwood Foundation logo showing a large tree and the foundation name in purple script; The Omaha Steaks logo, with "America's Original Butcher" written in red on a white background and "Omaha Steaks Since 1917" written in white on a red background; "Harley & Beth Schrager Foundation" in simple black text; The Valmont Foundation logo with a stylized "V" and the tagline "Conserving Resources. Improving Life."; "Milton S. and Corinne N. Livingston Foundation Fund" centered on the page in simple black text; "Cynthia Epstein and David Wiesman" listed on the bottom left in simple black text; and the Mutual of Omaha logo depicting a blue lion's head with a flowing mane, alongside the text "Mutual of Omaha".

Samuel Bak Museum education and operational support provided by:

A white background displays logos and text acknowledging various foundations and organizations. From top to bottom and left to right, they include: The Weitz Family Foundation logo, a blue square containing stylized teal, orange, and white shapes above the text "Weitz Family Foundation"; "Anonymous" in simple black text; "Webster Family Foundation" in simple black text; The Iowa West Foundation logo, a light gray circle containing a geometric pattern resembling intersecting lines forming squares, with "Iowa West Foundation" beneath it; The Omaha Public Schools Foundation logo, featuring the acronym "OPSF" in orange, red, green, and blue vertical bars, with "Omaha Public Schools Foundation" beneath it; and "Shirley & Leonard Goldstein Supporting Foundation" in simple black text.

Museum Team Spotlight

Meet Toni Parker – SBMLC Student Worker

I am graduating this Spring 2025 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art and a minor in Art History. Since SBMLC opened in February of 2023, I have been involved in diverse aspects of the museum in my capacity as a student worker. Working for SBMLC the past two years has given me incredible opportunities to develop my skills as an artist and develop a passion for curatorial work. I was recently accepted into the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where I will be learning and working in the drawing and painting department. I owe so much of this success to my time here at SBMLC, and the professional development opportunities provided by both the Museum and UNO. I have 2 children, Jack (age 6) and Frank (age 3) and I used to play in a band as a singer and guitarist. I also love to travel and eat at restaurants.

 

Favorite Museum Artwork: Ruakh (wind) 2007

Samuel Bak's work has always been a place of examination and education on the most challenging subjects of the 20th and 21st century, War Games is no exception. In the current exhibition, some of his most startling work comes from his Icons of Loss series in the second room. The young boy in the painting, Ruakh (wind), stands in the midst of a fierce gust. A long white cloth covers his face, perhaps as a means of protection or a denial of personal identity. The boy's right left leg appears to be detached and free standing, along with his left arm. The powerful gust fractures the boy into pieces. What's most challenging about this work is its ability to invite viewers into a reality that is often ignored. The realities of children as victims of war, and the stripping of their rights to grow, love, learn, and lead, create essential questions as to the continued justification of violence in the world. Samuel Bak never strays from such questions. He uses his work to invite and implore viewers into considering the victims of war, as pawns in a game. 

rectangle graphic to highlight a SBMLC student worker and their favorite Samuel Bak artwork. The right side of the graphic shows Toni Parker smiling at the camera, standing outdoors with a cityscape in the background. The person has curly dark hair partially covered by a gray beanie, and is wearing glasses. They are wearing a long, mustard-yellow coat, a blue shirt, and a multicolored scarf in shades of brown, beige, and red. A black crossbody bag strap is visible over their shoulder, and yellow earbuds hang around their neck. The person is standing on a stone ledge or wall, and behind them is a sprawling city under a cloudy sky with the sun setting or rising on the horizon, casting a warm glow. Green fields and trees are visible within the cityscape. The overall mood is cheerful and scenic. The left side of the graphic features a painting by Samuel Bak titled Ruakh (wind) created in 2007, using oil on canvas and measuring 18 1/8 x 21 1/8 inches. The painting depicts a figure struggling against a strong wind. The figure, a young boy, is wrapped in a long, flowing white cloth that billows dramatically around them, obscuring much of their face and body. The boy wears a light blue shirt, a dark green trench coat, and blue socks with gray shoes. His right arm is raised, with his hand gesturing as if trying to hold onto the cloth or brace against the wind. The figure stands amidst scattered debris, including pieces of wood, rocks, and colorful fabrics (white, blue, and red). A gnarled tree with sparse green leaves is visible in the background to the left, and a hazy landscape with a muted orange and brown sky fills the rest of the scene. The overall impression is one of vulnerability and struggle against powerful forces.

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.

Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2289 South 67th Street, Omaha, NE 68016

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