The Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center bring people together to have meaningful conversations surrounding human rights and Holocaust education through art. Your gift allows the museum to continue its growth, allowing these important conversations to continue.
The Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center offers a unique experience to every student who enters.
Samuel Bak is a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor known worldwide for his surrealist paintings centered around human rights. His works first appeared on UNO’s campus in 2019 during the WITNESS: The Art of Samuel Bak exhibition.
Following that visit, a 500-piece collection of Bak’s work was donated to UNO, ultimately leading to the development and opening of the museum and learning center in his name in 2023.
From kindergarteners to college students and the greater community, the museum allows everyone who enters to have meaningful conversations about art, Holocaust education, human rights and genocide.
Hillary Nather-Detisch, executive director of the museum, is committed to preserving history through art and dialogue.
“Togetherness of human rights and art is something I believe so strongly in,” Nather-Detisch said.
Nather-Detisch was honored to accept the position, as it offered her the opportunity to find fulfillment on many levels.
“The combined strong representation of Samuel Bak as a Holocaust survivor, but also as a promoter of human rights overall, seemed like the perfect once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Nather-Detisch said.
The museum has hosted many exciting opportunities and plans to expand to include more. This fall, they are welcoming other contemporary artists to the exhibition for the first time.
“We have an annual emerging artist series program where we’re partnering with regional artists to have free art-making sessions open to the public,” Nather-Detisch said. “We also have a lecture series featuring faculty on campus and a concert each exhibition where we collaborate with the School of Music … and the museum’s programing is diverse and allows interaction at many levels with the art.”
Bringing people together around these powerful topics is part of what makes the Samuel Bak Museum so remarkable. By confronting the pain of the past, the museum has been able to educate younger generations and inspire the sharing of every story. Donors to the museum are a large part of its growth.
“We showcase two exhibitions a year, and that's fully funded by the community. We need these donations because that's the meat of the museum … and to continue our impactful educational work,” Nather-Detisch said. “That is what is so important about those dollars.”
The ability to stay free and accessible for all visitors is of the utmost importance to staff at the museum. Donors not only allow that but also open other opportunities, such as financing K-12 school tours, salaries for UNO student tour guides, learning materials and more. UNO leadership is working on the next phase details and a permanent space for the museum to expand its exhibitions and programs\.
“That’s ultimately where we’ll need donor support, so we can have a space that’s much larger than what we have now,” Nather-Detisch said. “We have a huge collection that’s being stored in Boston right now.”
To ensure that the meaningful work of Samuel Bak can continue to live on, please consider donating to the Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center Excellence Fund.
2285 South 67th St
Suite 200
Omaha, NE 68106
800-432-3216
[email protected]
