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Embrace the complexity of the American experience by building on, reframing, and evolving Sheldon’s enduring commitment to collecting great works of modern and contemporary art

The museum’s exceptional collection of art is core to Sheldon’s mission, vision, values, and future. A longstanding focus on collecting modern and contemporary art, rather than attempting to develop a comprehensive collection, has resulted in a collection characterized by depth, excellence, and focus. Recent analysis has revealed that while the collection has strength in American art, it may be more broadly—and most accurately—defined as a collection of modern and contemporary art. Sheldon's collection invites interrogation of both the definition of “American” and the bias inherent in the art historical canon. This inquiry closely aligns with the museum's overarching commitment to connection, belonging, human flourishing, the creation and dissemination of new knowledge, and productive dialogue about meaningful differences between cultures and identities. The museum can, and should, leverage the development of its collection to advance these institutional values.

Objectives:

• Clarify that the scope of Sheldon's collection is modern and contemporary art
• Implement the Collection Development Plan for acquisitions and de-accessions
• Secure gifts of art and endowment funds supporting collection development and care
• Organize engaging, high-quality exhibitions aligned with Sheldon’s Exhibition Policy that amplify and complement the collection and are accompanied by robust public engagement
• Develop high-quality publications with major exhibitions and distribute them nationally
• Engage living artists through new commissions, including those responding to the collection
• Raise the visibility and profile of the collection locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally
• Create a Collections Committee with University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Sheldon Art Association representation to integrate collection development and care
• Upgrade the Museum+ collection management database, and maximize public engagement with this and other digital collection resources

Maximize the museum’s statewide impact

The Sheldon Statewide traveling exhibition program has been engaging people across the state of Nebraska for nearly forty years. Dialogue with internal and external stakeholders has revealed considerable enthusiasm for both amplifying that program and significantly expanding Sheldon’s footprint across Nebraska. The University of Nebraska System’s Odyssey to Extraordinary Foundational Pillars & Strategic Priorities calls for the creation of a unified, defined and distinctive culture across the 500-mile-wide University of Nebraska system campus—and a myriad of existing statewide partnership sites—through themes including arts and culture, engagement, and belonging. Sheldon is positioned to advance this work through partnerships with statewide networks, K–12 schools across the state, the university’s campuses in Omaha and Kearney, peer museum and performing arts organizations throughout Nebraska, and other existing and potential collaborators. 

Objectives:

• Engage more Nebraskans by expanding the Sheldon Statewide traveling exhibition program and related learning initiatives
• Expand Sheldon’s donor base and Sheldon Art Association membership throughout Nebraska
• Holistically engage the University of Nebraska System through collaboration with the Omaha, Kearney, and Medical Center campuses
• Make Sheldon a travel and tourism destination for Nebraskans, and Sheldon Statewide venues travel destinations for their communities
• Provide timely and relevant well-being and well-becoming initiatives that engage statewide audiences
• Create a single online repository for all of Sheldon’s digital materials including catalogs, artist talks, collection database, and curriculum materials

Synthesize academic and community engagement

True to its history, Sheldon Museum of Art remains simultaneously committed to rigorous engagement with academic communities—especially the University of Nebraska—and non-academic engagement with local and regional communities. Both tracks are deep and, to an extent, able to stand alone. The museum aims to offer experiential, interdisciplinary, high-impact academic engagement that actively contributes to the university’s teaching priorities and research agenda. Sheldon also commits to an asset-based approach to developing longstanding, meaningful bidirectional partnerships with core community partners. Moving forward, the museum will deliberately calibrate academic and community engagement and, more importantly, serve as a nexus where those initiatives converge. The museum will prioritize—and leverage—its ability to advance meaningful dialogue through aesthetic experiences that engage local and regional communities with university assets and activity, and that extend university assets and activity into local and regional communities.

Objectives:

• Understand, amplify, and create synergy with existing University of Nebraska–Lincoln partnerships with the Lincoln community
• Make Sheldon the community’s place for high-quality engagement with art
• Tell the story of Sheldon’s convergence of academic and community engagement
• Increase internal collaboration between Sheldon’s academic and community engagement teams
• Consistently integrate campus and broader community voices into exhibitions
• Regularly invite targeted community leaders to museum programs and events
• Integrate the museum into both campus and civic life
• Collaborate with at least one campus or community partner on every major museum program 
• Provide avenues for audience feedback

Differentiate, prioritize, and engage visitor, participant, and stakeholder segments

While Sheldon’s mission encompasses everyone, the museum must take a disciplined strategic approach to differentiating and analyzing the unique needs and interests of current visitors, online participants, and stakeholders. As Sheldon increases its patron intelligence, it must also decide which new visitor, participant, and stakeholder segments to cultivate. This will require differentiating and prioritizing new audience segments, and developing actionable strategies to engage each segment according to its members’ unique needs and interests. While Sheldon intends to increase overall engagement, during the 2026–30 period the museum will prioritize converting visitors to Sheldon Art Association (SAA) members and engaging family/intergenerational audiences and tourists living within a one-day driving distance of Lincoln. Recent research conducted with local and regional residents revealed significant opportunities to increase awareness of, and familiarity with, Sheldon Museum of Art among every audience segment. The museum will therefore significantly strengthen, diversify, and expand all forms of museum communication to increase top-of-mind awareness, familiarity, visit frequency, the number of new visitors, and SAA membership.

Objectives:

• Gather, report, and act on robust visitor and member data
• Convert museum visitors to SAA members
• Leverage Sheldon’s partnership with Lincoln Public Schools to engage families with the museum
• Increase the number of first-time and repeat museum visitors
• Deepen in-person and online engagement with the museum
• Strengthen, diversify, and expand museum communications

Activate inclusive interior and exterior space

As the museum approaches its 140th anniversary, it is compelled to both steward its landmark Philip Johnson building, which opened in 1963, and to evolve Sheldon’s buildings and grounds to meet the current and future moment. The museum faces several infrastructure challenges. Visitor access is limited by a main entrance that is not wheelchair accessible and a parking lot that is difficult to find and too small. The building's loading dock and freight elevator cannot easily accommodate large-scale works of art, and the galleries cannot easily accommodate video and multimedia installations. Both interior gallery lighting and exterior building lighting are aging. The sculpture garden is underutilized and in disrepair. Additionally, office space is insufficient in terms of both quantity and quality. These challenges are accompanied by significant opportunities to integrate surrounding green space into the museum experience, explore synergies among University of Nebraska–Lincoln arts organizations surrounding the “quad,” maximize the impact of interstitial space inside the museum, and leverage the proximity of the museum’s building to both campus and downtown Lincoln.

Objectives:

• Develop a long-range master plan for museum maintenance, renovation, and expansion
• Integrate universal design and access into the museum’s building and grounds
• Update, renovate, and expand gallery space to maximize collection access and fully accommodate the exhibition of digital, video, and installation art
• Build the museum’s capacity to safely and efficiently transport and install all works of art
• Increase the amount of multi-purpose space available for community engagement, public programs, fundraising events, and private space rental
• Strengthen the museum’s integration with spaces on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's City and East Campuses
• Strengthen the integration of Sheldon Museum of Art with downtown Lincoln