Photography Collection

Selections from the Nerman Museum’s permanent collection are on display in several designated museum galleries and within various special exhibitions. With nearly 400 works of art on permanent display across campus, the college demonstrates the philosophy of “living with art” through a series of media focus areas designed to facilitate interaction with art on a daily basis.


Contemporary artists capture moments in time – some moments are fantastically fabricated, others are very real. While some photographic works resemble straightforward representations of places, people or events, even the most subtle attention given to focus and lighting conditions distinguishes a work of art from a ubiquitous casual snapshot. The Photography Collection contains nearly two hundred photographs featuring nationally and internationally known artists as well as prominent local artists. The collection includes photographs that debuted in Nerman exhibitions, such as “Tony”, 2011, which was featured in Zack Balber’s solo exhibition “Tamim” in 2012. Some pieces have gained national attention as we have loaned works to prestigious exhibitions across the country. For example, Wendy Red Star’s “Four Season Series; Spring, Indian Summer, Winter, Fall” , 2006, was part of “The Plains Indians: Artists of Earth and Sky” which traveled to both The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.