The year 2017 marks Nebraska’s 150th anniversary of statehood. The Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA) is uniquely positioned to observe this milestone, since MONA’s mission is to showcase the art and cultural history of the state. The Museum is proud to feature, through a series of exhibitions, its permanent collection in a visual festival of Nebraska art in honor of Nebraska’s Sesquicentennial.
Cattle on the Mack Downey ranch near Georgetown, Custer County, Nebraska 1903
black & white photograph (from glass plate negative in the Nebraska State Historical Society Collection), c. 1982-1984
Gift of John Carter, Museum of Nebraska Art Collection
July 28, 2017 – March 4, 2018
Solomon Butcher (1856-1927) was one of those migrating to Nebraska with dreams of a new and prosperous life under the Homestead Act. Quickly realizing he was not suited to work the land, he was inspired by those who did, and had a vision to create the settlement of the plains in a photographic history. Perhaps best known for his distinctive sod house images, Butcher’s photographs are regarded as the most important record of homesteading in America.
