The Joslyn’s dynamic program of exhibitions brings people together to experience art across time and cultures.
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Exhibitions

<a href="https://joslyn.org/all-aboard-exhibition-details">Exhibition details &amp; programs</a>
All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, 1840-1955, explores depictions of trains and train infrastructure in American painting during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From its emergence as a technological marvel in mid-nineteenth century landscape views to its adoption by artists as a symbol of modern life and industry, the railroad was a significant motif in several major art movements.
Featuring paintings from the Hudson River School to postwar abstraction, the exhibition considers the impact of the railroad on American art through significant works by Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Hart Benton, John Sloan, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jacob Lawrence, George Tooker, Kay Sage, and others. Depictions of rail workers and passengers present trains as spaces for distinct forms of social interaction. Other works illuminate the railroad as an engine of modernity, but also a cause of population displacement, labor struggles, and environmental destruction that changed the fabric of American life, from the urban centers of the East Coast to the Heartland and Pacific Ocean.
All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, 1840–1955 is organized by Dixon Gallery &amp; Gardens, Joslyn Art Museum, and Shelburne Museum. It is accompanied by an exhibition catalogue.
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Pictured: Carl Frederick Gaertner (American, 1898–1952), Swamp Spur, 1944, oil on canvas, 24 × 40 in. (61 × 101.6 cm), The John and Susan Horseman Collection, Courtesy of the Horseman Foundation, © The Estate of Carl Frederick Gaertner courtesy of WOLFS Gallery

From technological marvel to symbol of modern life, trains transformed the landscape and society of the United States. All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, 1840–1955 explores the significance of this theme for American painters during an era of US expansion, industrialization, and urbanization.

All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, 1840–1955

Drawing on documentary, formalist, and narrative photographic traditions, Alec Soth uncovers the beauty and banality of the human experience. His work has taken him across the world, capturing landscapes, interiors, and people in stunning, large-format photographs. These images, carefully composed and exhibiting remarkable clarity and directness, allow the subjects to be grasped all at once, while their details—gestures, angles, objects—invite sustained attention. An immersive exploration of both the artist’s picture-making and book-making practices, this exhibition transforms The Joslyn’s Riley CAP Gallery into a reading room. Photographs from two recent projects, I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating and Advice for Young Artists, hang on the walls. On a table, a selection of the artist’s photobooks situates the visitor in a small library. The recurring motif of the book and a focus on the spaces we inhabit while reading turn an often-solitary act into a collective experience.
Artist Talk 
Alec Soth will speak at The Joslyn on Sat, Mar 29, 2–3 pm. Joslyn Members: Free, General Public: $10. <a href="https://24716a.blackbaudhosting.com/24716a/Alec-Soth-Artist-Talk">Advance registration is required;</a> walk-ins accepted as space allows.
Pictured: Alec Soth (American, b. 1969), Lauren’s Books, 2023, archival pigment print, image size: 40 × 50 in. (101.6 × 127 cm), sheet size: 45 × 55 in. (114.3 × 139.7 cm), © Alec Soth, Courtesy of the artist and Weinstein Hammons Gallery

Drawing on documentary, formalist, and narrative photographic traditions, Alec Soth uncovers the beauty and banality of the human experience. His exhibition at The Joslyn transforms the Riley CAP Gallery into a reading room, featuring large-format color photographs and a selection of the artist’s photobooks.

Alec Soth: Reading Room

In the installation Appliqué sur le terrain, Henry Payer views the cultural landscape of present-day Nebraska through the vibrant lens of Indigenous ribbonwork appliqué. This artform involves sewing layers of silk ribbons, cotton, wool, and glass beads to make regalia for special occasions. The distinctive symmetrical patterns reflect kinship, ecological knowledge, and oral histories of various Indigenous communities.
Inspired by The Joslyn’s collection of Karl Bodmer watercolors, Payer created eight appliqué collages that layer Missouri River landscapes, calico fabric, and texts about the colonization of the region. He hand-stitched the designs in the Ho-Chunk appliqué style, called zeenįba hirarucak. Each floral and geometric pattern references historical examples created by Umónhon, Ponca, Ho-Chunk, Pawnee, Ioway, and Otoe-Missouria women, honoring the legacy of artists whose names were not documented. As part of this collaborative project, contemporary artists have generously shared their appliqué stories and regalia.
Pictured: Henry Payer (Ho-Chunk, b. 1986), Omaha, Bellevue Agency, Post of Major Dougherty (After Ancestor Artist), from the series Appliqué sur le terrain, 2024, calico, digital print on polyester fabric, and thread, 36 × 48 in. (91.4 × 121.9 cm), © Henry Payer, Courtesy the artist

Henry Payer views the cultural landscape of present-day Nebraska through the vibrant lens of Indigenous ribbonwork appliqué in a special installation featured in the American galleries.

Henry Payer: Appliqué sur le terrain

Presented in the Focus Gallery, Seven Art Movements offers a multi-sensory exploration of some of the world’s most famous works of art. The installation represents seven key artistic movements: the Renaissance, the Baroque, Neoclassicism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau, and Expressionism. Custom kinesthetic displays with tactile panels and touch-activated audio make visual knowledge accessible for blind and visually impaired communities and create an immersive experience for all visitors.
This installation was developed by Tactile Images in association with the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Getty Images, the National Federation of the Blind, and the Alliance for Inclusive Design and Experiences (AIDE).
Pictured: Courtesy Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired

A multi-sensory exploration of some of the world’s most famous works of art, this special installation invites all visitors to move beyond visual appreciation and to engage with subject matter, style, and technique through touch and sound. Tactile Images make visual knowledge accessible for blind and visually impaired communities.

Seven Art Movements

Featuring works from The Joslyn’s collection, this exhibition explores more than two centuries of prints produced in Japan. From artists like Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige, who developed influential styles and techniques during the nineteenth century, to modern practitioners who adapted these traditions, printmaking has long been crucial in shaping the country&#8217;s art and culture.
Among many techniques, woodblock printing (木版画, mokuhanga) became prevalent in Japanese art in the seventeenth century. Under the military government of the Tokugawa clan (1603–1868), Japan experienced an era of economic development, urbanization, and cultural flourishing. Prints depicted scenes of everyday life, folk tales, landscapes, flora and fauna, and they featured all spheres of Japanese society. Described as ukiyo-e, or “pictures of the floating world,” these images gained popularity in the nineteenth century in Europe and North America, where artists and collectors purchased, copied, and imitated them.
In the early 1900s, a woodblock revival led to movements such as Shin-hanga (新版画, &#8220;new prints&#8221;), exemplified in the works of Kawase Hasui and the Yoshida family. Contemporary artists have paid homage to historical prints while reflecting shifts in Japanese society since the Second World War.
Pictured: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849), Under the Wave Off Kanagawa, also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, c. 1830–32, color woodcut on paper, 9 1/2 × 14 3/8 in. (24.1 × 36.5 cm), Gift of the Omaha Public Library, 2021.4.146

From Hokusai to contemporary artists, this exhibition presents two hundred years of Japanese works on paper and explores the impact of printmaking on the country’s art and culture.

The Floating World and Beyond: 200 Years of Japanese Prints

Bill Viola was a central figure in video art for more than fifty years. Known for his immersive moving image and sound installations, Viola explored topics including spirituality, community, the cycle of life, and the power of the natural world. Captured in slow-motion, The Raft is a startling and poignant depiction of what unfolds during and after a crisis. The video opens on a diverse group of individuals who gather for unknown reasons. Their collective demeanor projects ease, even boredom, yet Viola’s ominous soundtrack suggests that something is amiss, and the once-calm scene soon turns chaotic. As the situation devolves, the subjects’ responses span curiosity to bewilderment, panic to heroism, and suffering to relief. Against the backdrop of increasing social, economic, and environmental instability, The Raft is both a warning and a remarkable display of the human capacity for resilience.
Pictured: Bill Viola (1951—2024), The Raft, May 2004, color high-definition video projection, 10 min. 33 sec. Performers: Sheryl Arenson, Robin Bonaccorsi, Rocky Capella, Cathy Chang, Liisa Cohen, Tad Coughenour, James Ford, Michael Irby, Simon Karimian, John Kim, Tanya Little, Mike Martinez, Petro Martirosian, Jeff Mosley, Gladys Peters, Maria Victoria, Kaye Wade, Kim Weild, and Ellis Williams. © Bill Viola Studio 2025. Courtesy Bill Viola Studio and James Cohan, New York.

A central figure in video art for more than fifty years, Bill Viola explored spirituality, community, the cycle of life, and the power of the natural world. The Raft is a startling and moving depiction of what unfolds during and after a crisis, offering a warning about the future while also celebrating the human capacity for resilience.

Bill Viola: The Raft

Suchitra Mattai descends from Indian indentured servants who Britain forcibly relocated to the Caribbean in the nineteenth century. Using colorful South Asian saris, or sarees, to create intricate tapestries, Mattai explores both personal and shared stories of migration and the search for identity often experienced by diasporic communities. Her site-specific installation in the Riley CAP Gallery will comprise braided saris that collect in the middle of the room, surrounding a pile of broken glass that resembles a reflecting pool. Mattai believes that the saris, many of which were worn before she acquired them, hold forgotten narratives—or what she calls “mysteries”—tied to their origins and cultural applications. In excavating these histories, Mattai reveals how events of the past continually shape the present and the future.

Using colorful South Asian saris to create intricate tapestries, Mattai explores both personal and shared stories of migration and the search for identity often experienced by diasporic communities.

Suchitra Mattai

Showcasing the vibrant and diverse artistic communities of the region, Made in the Plains features new and recent work by twenty artists working in Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota. While not a comprehensive survey of art being produced here, the exhibition highlights a range of materials and approaches artists engage to respond to the current moment. Universal human themes, including history, landscape, and representation will be explored alongside more contemporary concerns, like climate change, land use, gender norms, bodily autonomy, and geopolitical conflict. Through painting, sculpture, photography, installation, ceramics, and performance, these artists exemplify the creative landscape of the Plains today.
Featured artists (pictured above in alphabetical order, left to right, top to bottom): Wesaam Al-Badry (Lincoln, NE), Jess Benjamin (Omaha, NE); Larry Buller (Lincoln, NE), Andrew Casto (Iowa City, IA), Rachel Cox (Iowa City, IA), T.J. Dedeaux-Norris (Iowa City, IA), Nancy Friedemann-Sánchez (Lincoln, NE), Neil Griess (Omaha, NE), Becky Grismer (Spearfish, SD), Shabnam Jannesari (Hastings, NE), Larassa Kabel (Des Moines, IA), Sarah Rowe (Omaha, NE), Nathaniel Ruleaux (Rapid City, SD), Lee Emma Running (Omaha, NE), Angie Seykora (Omaha, NE), Lauren Simpson (Omaha, NE), Francisco Souto (Lincoln, NE), Christine Stormberg (Omaha, NE), Mallory Wetherell (Kearney, NE), Jave Yoshimoto (Omaha, NE).

Featuring new and recent work by twenty artists, this exhibition celebrates the vibrant and diverse artistic communities of the Plains—Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota.

Made in the Plains

An ambitious and immersive exhibition, Dripping Earth: Cannupa Hanska Luger presents new work by the acclaimed artist. Luger brings his playful and innovative approach to The Joslyn’s renowned collection of watercolors, journals, and archives documenting the North American expedition (1832–34) of the German naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied and the Swiss artist Karl Bodmer. Employing a vibrant mix of found and repurposed materials, such as afghan blankets and vintage sports equipment, Luger reimagines depictions of his Mandan and Hidatsa ancestors found in Bodmer’s work. Situating visitors within Missouri River landscapes now submerged by colonial damming projects, Luger reveals how such interventions continue to shape the land and its people.
The exhibition expands Luger’s ongoing speculative fiction series, Future Ancestral Technologies, which merges history with futuristic storytelling. Through dramatic lighting, monumental sculpture, and dynamic moving images, Luger plays with scale and perception, transforming the galleries into a world where past, present, and future collide. Dripping Earth features newly created ceramics, video projections, prints, and life-size bison regalia known as the Midéegaadi. Each work challenges conventional narratives, inviting visitors to envision a future where land, identity, and culture are reclaimed and transformed.
Dripping Earth: Cannupa Hanska Luger is organized by the Margre H. Durham Center for Western Studies at the Joslyn Art Museum. It is accompanied by an exhibition catalogue featuring reflections by the artist, community collaborators, knowledge bearers, and curators.
Pictured: Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara/Lakota, b. 1979), We Survive You—Midéegaadi, editorial photograph featuring 7 mixed media buffalo regalia made of repurposed materials, © Cannupa Hanska Luger, Photograph courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, Photograph by Brandon Soder, 2023

With this ambitious and immersive exhibition, Cannupa Hanska Luger reimagines historical depictions of Missouri River landscapes and his own ancestors in newly created ceramics, video projections, prints, and monumental sculpture. Luger’s playful and innovative approach invites visitors to envision a future where land, identity, and culture are reclaimed and transformed.

Dripping Earth: Cannupa Hanska Luger

The Joslyn is closed today (Wed, Mar 5) due to inclement weather.

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