Changing special exhibitions expand on and complement themes from Kauffman Museum’s permanent exhibition.

Previous Special Exhibition

Current Special Exhibition

Sorting Out Race: Examining Racial Identity and Stereotypes in Thrift Store Donations

August 28 – November 28, 2020

This Kauffman Museum traveling exhibition arose out of a desire to divert artifacts with racial content from thrift stores to an exhibit that would generate a healthy community conversation about racial stereotypes past and present in order to heighten awareness of our continuing struggles with race.

Upcoming Special Exhibition

Crossroads: Change in Rural America

December 5, 2020 – January 17, 2021 

Crossroads: Change in Rural America is a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition drawing on the history and culture of rural America to provoke fresh thinking and spark conversations about the future and sustainability of rural communities. As a host site, Kauffman Museum will display a complementary exhibition, Of Land & People: Our Community at the Crossroads of Change, and host public programs that spark conversations about life in rural Kansas.

Past Special Exhibitions

Sorting Out Race: Examining Racial Identity & Stereotypes in Thrift Store Donations – 2020

This Kauffman Museum traveling exhibition arose out of a desire to divert artifacts with racial content from thrift stores to an exhibit that would generate a healthy community conversation about racial stereotypes past and present in order to heighten awareness of our continuing struggles with race.

Meta: an Exhibition about Exhibitions – 2020

Meta offers a glimpse into four of the most influential and creative exhibition styles from years past: Cabinet of Curiosities, Salon Style, Partial Context, and White Cube. Within these four particular design styles, Bethel College student curators, Elizabeth Friesen Birky and Emma Girton, seek to show how styles and expectations of museum display have changed, remained, and morphed over time to communicate different messages to the public.

City of Hope: Resurrection City and the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign – 2020

This poster exhibition honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s daring vision for economic justice and opportunity for every U.S. citizen. City of Hope: Resurrection City and the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

K is for Kansas: Exploring Kansas from A-Z – 2019-2020

Kauffman Museum invites you to discover the magnificent state of Kansas with the traveling exhibition, K is for Kansas: Exploring Kansas from A to Z. Our exhibit team made a special Kansas alphabet choosing from the countless people, places, things, plants, and animals which make our state a special place.

Campaign for a New China: Looking Back on Posters from the Cultural Revolution – 2019

Bethel College peace studies professor Robert Kreider traveled to China on a friendship tour in 1976, where he collected dozens of the popular posters that spread Mao Zedong’s vision for renewal in what became known as the Cultural Revolution.

Better Choose Me: Collecting & Creating with Tobacco Novelties –  2018

The first exhibition to tell the story of fabric novelties issued with tobacco products (1880-1920) which women sewed into colorful items for the home. From the Ethel Ewert Abrahams collection.

Newton Kids Create: Storytelling Through Art – 2018

A collaborative project between the Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (KIPCOR), Newton USD 373, and Kauffman Museum. Individual pieces as well as a beautiful collective artwork by over 1,000 Newton students.

The Chisholm Trail: Driving America West – 2018

This exhibit celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail. A Flint Hills Design traveling exhibit in collaboration with Symphony in the Flint Hills and Lost Trail Soda.

Voices of Conscience: Peace Witness in the Great War – 2017

A Kauffman Museum Traveling Exhibition, this exhibition remembers the witness of peace-minded people against the First World War, 1914-1918. This witness included men and women, political protesters and sectarian separatists.

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