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Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center Opens to Public Feb. 4

The grand opening day will include tours and an evening event featuring the artist Samuel Bak.

  • published: 2023/01/20
  • contact: Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications
  • email: unonews@unomaha.edu
Samuel Bak, world-renowned artist and Holocaust survivor, poses in front of some of his paintings.

Samuel Bak, world-renowned artist and Holocaust survivor. The Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center will feature 99 works by Bak.

The Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center will hold a grand opening to the public on Saturday, Feb. 4, from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. in Aksarben Village at 2289 S. 67th Street, Omaha, NE 68106, near the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Scott Campus.

The highly anticipated opening weekend will feature a wide array of events and activities. At the Museum, visitors will be able to view 53 works of Samuel Bak – a world-renowned artist and Holocaust survivor whose surrealist paintings encourage reflection and conversation around human rights – in an inaugural exhibition titled “In the Beginning: The Artist Samuel Bak.” In addition to the exhibition, the Thompson Alumni Center on UNO’s campus will serve as the venue for an opening event on Feb. 4 at 7 P.M. featuring Samuel Bak, Bernie Pucker and Dr. Mark Celinscak accompanied by a musical performance inspired by Bak’s works. This event is open to the public, but RSVPs are required to attend.

“The grand opening of the Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center is a major milestone in the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s ongoing efforts to create spaces where people can come together to learn from the past and shape a stronger future,” UNO Chancellor Joanne Li, Ph.D., CFA said. “I invite our community to bring a curious mind and an open heart as we explore and celebrate Samuel Bak’s work.”

Next month’s opening is the first phase in a long-term development of a permanent home on UNO’s campus for more than 500 of Bak’s works. In the next phase of development, led by Executive Director Hillary Nather-Detisch, UNO plans to create a facility that will serve as a hub for intercultural dialogue and education in the U.S. heartland — a center that inspires meaningful discussions and thoughtful reflection.

The space will offer a source of collaboration and opportunities to students, faculty and staff with the broader community around the subjects of art, Holocaust education, human rights and genocide. Specifically, the venue offers classroom and meeting space for both the university and local nonprofit partnerships that can be reserved online. These opportunities of engagement will better prepare students with a sense of purpose, civic responsibility, critical thinking, inclusivity and cultural awareness.

The origins of the Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center goes back to 2019 when UNO hosted an exhibition titled WITNESS: The Art of Samuel Bak, which welcomed 4,500 visitors, including more than 2,000 middle and high-school students over its three-month run. Bak’s visit had a profound impact on UNO’s students, faculty, staff as well as community members who were privileged to view his artwork and hear his personal story. After his visit, a 500-plus piece collection of his remarkable work was gifted by the artist to UNO. Phase 1 development on the current space was funded by private philanthropic support.

“The remarkable progress we have made toward the Feb. 4 grand opening of our first phase since UNO was approved in 2021 to become the permanent home for Bak’s work is a testament to the vision shared by the university and community to inspire thoughtful discussions,” Nather-Detisch said.

The Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center is free to the public. All ages are welcome. Information regarding in-person tours of the space can be found on the Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center website.