Pop Art Exhibit at Willa Cather Center Highlights Modern-Day Native Culture

A collection of 11 Native American artists’ work will be on display at the National Willa Cather Center in Red Cloud, Nebraska beginning this week and throughout Native American Heritage Month.

The pop art-themed work was created by artists across the country from different tribes. Todd Richardson with the University of Nebraska at Omaha helped organize the exhibit and said it refuses popular culture stereotypes.

“I think that there’s a tendency that’s emphasized throughout popular culture and the representation of Indigenous People, to see Indigenous People as locked in the past, and this show absolutely refuses that view,” he said,” because it shows Native artists representing Native experience in contemporary popular culture terms.”

Richardson said the exhibit can help mend relationships between Nebraska and Native Americans, specifically in Red Cloud, where the town is located on Pawnee land, but named after a Lakota leader.

He hoped this exhibit can bring more depth to understanding Native American culture. The display will allow everyone to acknowledge the modern day experience of Indigenous People in Nebraska.

The pop-art presentation will open this Friday and be on display at the National Willa Cather Center in Red Cloud until December 14.