Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art has a short history but is building an impressive track record. In 2007, Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art began as a group of art enthusiasts who were looking for a way to expand art exposure in the Butler County community. The museum is located in David City, Nebraska, the boyhood home of nationally known artist, Dale Nichols. Four paintings by Nichols were commissioned for the city bank over three decades ago and this arts group had the opportunity to acquire and preserve them. The acquisition of these artworks by Dale Nichols inspired the inception of an art museum; a place for these artworks to be preserved and displayed and vitally provide a place for viewing and appreciation of art in the community.

The museum has been built through the creative and insightful vision of the members of the current Board of Directors. A great need was identified to raise awareness of ever changing agricultural landscape through the rarely recognized agrarian artists, who have preserved a heritage rooted in the land. The museum has continued to grow and present high quality artworks with a strong educational impact about this subject.

Members of:

American Association of Museums

Mountain-Plains Museums Association

Nebraska Museums Association

Hands-On Experiential Learning Project (HELP):

Mid-America Arts Alliance, a regional arts organization serving cultural organizations in its memberstates of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, has selected Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art as one of twenty museums to participate in the Hands-On Experiential Learning Project (HELP). In Nebraska, HELP is implemented in partnership with the Nebraska Arts Council and made possible through the generosity of the Nebraska Arts Council, the Cooper Foundation, Sue Renken, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Senator Ben Nelson. HELP provides museums with on-site, affordable learning opportunities that further skills in areas critical to successful museums today. HELP is a program of Mid-America Arts Alliance’s (Mid-America) Professional Development division that provides institutional advancement, capacity building and professional development opportunities for Mid-America’s constituents.  Participating museums are concentrating on improvements related to nonprofit governance. Training is directed to museum trustees as well as museum staff, paid or unpaid, and focuses on essential components of good governance.