History
Our mission is to connect people to the land through art.
Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art in David City, NE is the nation’s only exclusively agrarian art museum presenting art that connects people to the land. Exhibitions and related events such as artist talks, panel discussions, art workshops, poetry readings, humanities presentations, and musical performances celebrate the heritage and current themes of rural and farm life.
In 2007 a group of volunteers founded the museum and gave it its unique focus on Agrarian Art.
David City is the hometown of nationally recognized Regionalist artist Dale Nichols whose work is the heart of the permanent collection. In May 2011, a major traveling exhibition and book, Dale Nichols: Transcending Regionalism opened. This exhibition brought 2,800 visitors from throughout the nation to David City and involved 600 students. The exhibition toured to: the Georgia Art Museum, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, and Utah Museum of Fine Arts.
In 2012 Henry Adams of The Smithsonia blog Articulations described Transcending Regionalism this way: “One of the most provocative exhibitions in the United States right now was organized by an institution that’s a bit off the beaten track: The Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art in David City, Nebraska…It’s impressive that such a small community has produced an ambitious exhibition and book of this scale, roughly on a par with those produced by America’s largest museums.”
The museum went on to publish and produce additional scholarship about Dale Nichols in 2018 with an exhibition and book entitled, Worthy Rivals: Dale Nichols and Terence Duren, written and curated by Cole Sartore.
Bone Creek Museum has been listed among the four top art museums in Nebraska by AAA Living Magazine. They are the Joslyn, Sheldon Museum of Art, Museum of Nebraska Art, and Bone Creek Museum.
The museum has offered more than 50 exhibitions since 2007. Examples of artists from beyond the Midwest include Jean Terry who focused on farming in upstate New York and Erin Hanson from Oregon. Canadian artist Denise Lemaster’s exhibition, “Canadian Foothills” was the museum’s first experience working with an international artist.
The museum has drawn visitors from 50 states and 7 countries in its first seven years. The museum is supported by 292 members representing 30 states. Thirty volunteers serve as board members; educators; docents; receptionists; maintenance staff; and event set-up crews.
Member of:
American Association of Museums
North American Reciprocal Museums (NARM)
Mountain-Plains Museums Association
Nebraska Museums Association
