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Celebrating Three Years of Impact!

Happy February! It is hard to believe that three years ago, the Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center opened to the public. Since opening, the Museum has welcomed over 20,500 visitors. This is because of the support you give daily to the Museum – by visiting each exhibition, participating in tours, attending exhibition lectures, engaging in events and activities, and financially supporting our work with donations. Thank you for your support!

As a newer addition to Omaha’s arts and culture landscape, the Museum’s education and outreach are central to the mission. Studies show that those who study genocide and the Holocaust are not only more empathetic and inclusive but also recognize the dangers of discrimination and the importance of standing up against intolerance. The Museum is a safe space for lectures, classes, and engagement activities that encourage students (both K-12 and UNO) and the greater Omaha community to ask essential questions, consider hard truths and remind us that working toward a more humane, just existence is an ongoing process. In addition, our exhibition related programming facilitates interdisciplinary conversation in the humanities. Samuel Bak’s paintings demand that viewers first have an emotional relationship to the work of art before exploring the histories and themes presented. His art encourages viewers to depart from their initial reaction to consider complex historical situations and question the “hows” and “whys” of history. Learning about history through art, while applying lessons learned through listening to others, is a unique and needed opportunity in today’s polarized environment.

I hope you are able to visit our current exhibition, Justice and Hope, multiple times before it closes on June 28, 2026. The exhibition examines Samuel Bak’s painting series Just-Is along with a selection of works by four contemporary artists who use an intertwining personal narrative to discuss transitional justice and the hope for peace. Please look at our free programming and sign up for an event.

Thank you again for your support of the Museum’s important work, over the past three years, and I look forward to a growing future!

Hillary Nather-Detisch, CFRE

Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center is a space where art is the gateway to a conversation on human rights, Holocaust education, and genocide. The Spring 2026 exhibition, Justice and Hope, explores how artists Samuel Bak, Dinh Q. Lê, Mladen Miljanović, Serge Nitegeka, and Maja Ruznic use intertwining personal narrative and historical facts to commemorate conflicts and denounce humanity’s inability to forgo violence. The exhibition poses questions on reconciliation and how we might learn from history to build better futures. 

Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center thanks the following sponsors for their generous support of Justice and Hope and accompanying educational programs and events.

Join us for free exhibition programming and events at Samuel Bak Museum this spring.

Exhibition Lecture – Thursday, February 19, 6PM

Art from Trauma: Lessons from Listening to Genocide Survivors in Rwanda

Speaker: Gerise Herndon, Ph.D.

Dr. Herdon will present on the work of memory and the transformative power of language and story to confront trauma and its haunting ability to shape minds and lives across generations. She will share her work of listening to Rwanda genocide survivors and how even in Nebraska we are connected to them, how we choose to acknowledge the human rights violations, and move towards peace and hope.

All Museum programming is FREE and open to the public, but due to limited seating, preregistration is required. RSVP Today!

Exhibition Lecture – Thursday, March 5, 6PM

Bosnia: Who Remembers? Who Denies?

Speaker: Lana Obradovic, Ph.D

This talk explores what it means to commemorate genocide in a society still divided, asking who is allowed to shape collective memory versus challenge it. By focusing on post-1996 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr. Lana Obradovic will address who remembers, who resists those memories, and why places like Srebrenica remain central and contested in public history.

All Museum programming is FREE and open to the public, but due to limited seating, preregistration is required. RSVP Today!

K-12 Education

Interested in an engaging K-12 experience? Find out more about our K-12 tour and field trip opportunities.

Request a Field Trip today!

Free Audio Tour

The Museum mobile tour is back, offering 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 Museum 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.