New on View!
Beach Museum of Art celebrates 30 years with a spotlight on contemporary Osage art.
Home/Land: Wahzhazhe Artists Speak
Aug. 18, 2026–July 24, 2027
Does the land on which you were raised shape your concept of home? What if you live in diaspora? How do you name “home”? In their art, Wahzhazhe (Osage) artists Norman Akers, Anita Fields and Ryan RedCorn consider the significance of land, language and culture in shaping ideas about “home.” The ancestral homelands of the Wahzhazhe once encompassed lands that are now part of Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. In the 19th century, U.S. government policies forced the Osage from much of that land and onto a reservation in present-day Oklahoma. In the generations that followed, the Osage Nation has continued to defend its sovereignty and cultural identity. Sharing their stories, Akers, Fields and RedCorn invite others to reflect on how history and landscape shape their own notions of home, land and belonging.
Home/Land is part of the initiative Home Is Where We Are: Art of First Americans, led by the Beach Museum of Art. Spanning institutions across the Great Plains, it marks a coordinated focus on contemporary Indigenous art. Each participating organization presents a distinct project that contributes to a broader collective effort amplifying Indigenous perspectives. Participating institutions in Kansas include the Chapman Center for Rural Studies, Kansas Studies Institute, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Mid America All-Indian Museum, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Salina Art Center, Ulrich Museum of Art, and Volland, A Place for Art and Community—together positioning the region as a destination for experiencing the art of First Americans.
This year, the Beach Museum of Art and K-State’s Indigenous Faculty and Staff Alliance collaborate on programming for K-State Indigenous Peoples Day. Home/Land artists Norman Akers and Anita Fields will deliver keynote addresses during an online program. The in-person closing event at the museum features visual artist Chris Pappan (Kaw, Osage, and Cheyenne River Sioux).
Major Sponsor: Greater Manhattan Community Foundation’s Lincoln & Dorothy I. Deihl Arts and Humanities Grant Program
Sustaining Sponsors: Dick and Gloria, Delich Anderson
Contributing Sponsors: Art Bridges, Dan and Beth Bird, Terry and Tara Cupps, Stephen and Deborah Saroff, and David and Melinda Weaver
This exhibition was also made possible through the generosity of the following academic units: The Chapman Center for Rural Studies and the Social Transformation Studies Department at Kansas State University; the Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies at K-State Libraries; and the Kansas Studies Institute at Johnson County Community College.
Related events | Beach Museum of Art | Free and open to the public
Fall 2026 Exhibition Opening
Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, 5:30-7 p.m.
Home/Land: Art, Culture, and Place-Making
A partnership between the K-State Indigenous Faculty and Staff Alliance and the Beach Museum of Art on Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Monday, October 12, 2026
10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. online programs, 5-7 p.m. in-person event
Registration is required. Link to register coming soon, stay tuned!
Indigenous Recordings Listening Party
Featuring DJ Bad Alaskan (Aleut/Unangax tribe of Alaska) and Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art Librarian of Wonder Thomas Bell
Thursday, October 29, 2026, 5:30-7 p.m.
BMA Friends Gathering with special guest Ryan RedCorn
Thursday, November 12, 2026, 5 p.m.
