Exhibitions and Programs

Away From Home: January 28 - March 14
Away From Home: January 28 - March 14
Black Excellence at Aurora University: January 21 - April 17
Black Excellence at Aurora University: January 21 - April 17
Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence. Available to view on our website
Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence. Available to view on our website.

 

Spring 2025

Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories
January 28 - March 14, 2025
Sioux Children on their first day of school

Sioux children on their first day at school, 1897 (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Beginning in the 1870s, the US government attempted to educate and assimilate American Indians into “civilized” society by placing children—of all ages, from thousands of homes and hundreds of diverse tribes—in distant, residential boarding schools. Many were forcibly taken from their families and communities and stripped of all signs of “Indianness,” even forbidden to speak their own language amongst themselves. Up until the 1930s, students were trained for domestic work and trade in a highly regimented environment. Many children went years without familial contact, and these events had a lasting, generational impact. Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories explores off-reservation boarding schools in a kaleidoscope of voices.

This exhibition was adapted from the permanent exhibition of the same title, organized by the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. Both exhibits were supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is brought to you by Mid-America Arts Alliance, The National Endowment for the Arts, and The Chickasaw Nation

Heard Museum, Mid-America Arts Alliance, and NEH on the Road Logos

 

Black Excellence at Aurora University: A History
January 21 - April 17, 2025

 Paulette Miller Homecoming QueenPaulette Miller '72, Aurora College's 1971 homecoming queen, with her escort, James H. Townsend '70, in the homecoming parade

To celebrate Black History Month, the Office of Black Student Initiatives and Schingoethe Center invite you on a journey through the history of Black Excellence at Aurora University. Using historical documents and photographs from the university's Colby Archives, this exhibition showcases the university’s efforts to support African American students since the Civil Rights Era, the impact of the Black Student Association, and the remarkable achievements of Black students on campus.

Click here for Past Exhibits and Programs.

 

Ongoing Exhibitions

Contemporary Native American Art Display
Marlin Johnston Gallery

Installation view: Contemporary Native American GalleryInstallation view of Contemporary Native American gallery

View selections of contemporary Native American art from the Schingoethe Center Collection. Artists on display include:

  • Peggy Black (Navajo)
  • Julie Buffalohead (Ponca)
  • Dan Friday (Lummi)
  • Tammy Garcia (Santa Clara Pueblo)
  • Edgar Hachivi Heap of Birds (Cheyenne)
  • Lisa Holt (Cochiti Pueblo)
  • Erica Lord (Athabascan / Inupiat)
  • Maria Martinez (San Ildefonso Pueblo)
  • Chris Pappan (Kanza / Osage / Lakota Descent)
  • Lilliana Pitt (Warm Springs / Wasco / Yakama)
  • Harlan Reano (Santo Domingo Pueblo)
  • Wendy Red Star (Apsáalooke)
  • Preston Singletary (Tlingit)
  • Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Salish)
  • Angela Swedberg (Tribally Certified Indian Artisan)
  • Emmi Whitehorse (Navajo)
  • Dwayne Wilcox (Oglala Lakota)
  • Debra Yepa-Pappan (Jemez Pueblo)

 Click here to see works currently on display.

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