How Blair, Nebraska, Pop. 7,997, Became the Talk of the Tour
Image collage: Joe Wallace, Edwin Bartlett, 2019; ink on paper, 35 x 27 3/4 inches (framed); Courtesy of the artist. Joe Wallace, BJ Fox, 2019; ink on paper, 35 x 27 3/4 inches (framed); Courtesy of the artist. Joe Wallace, Rene Perkins, 2021; ink on paper, 27 3/4 x 35 inches (framed); Courtesy of the artist. Joe Wallace, Pak Hup Tom, 2017; ink on paper, 35 x 35 inches (framed); Courtesy of the artist
“This is an exhibition that should never be retired or destroyed.”
That’s Margaret Hanson, marketing and exhibit coordinator at the Blair Public Library & Technology Center in Blair, Nebraska, population 7,997. She’s talking about Portraits of Dementia, an exhibition of 35## photographs by journalist, storyteller, and photographer Joe Wallace that destigmatizes those living with dementia through moving portraits and paired stories.
Blair Public Library brought the exhibition to its community this past spring, and it quickly became one of the most talked-about stops on our touring schedule.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your venue is “big enough” to host a traveling exhibition, Blair is exactly the story I want you to read.
Did you know? Blair, Nebraska, is the birthplace of Kent Bellows, a realist portrait artist so precise his work was often mistaken for photographs, and so perceptive he was said to capture not just a likeness, but the person underneath. That’s not far from what Joe Wallace does with a camera instead of graphite: showing the humanity behind a diagnosis.
A Little about My Role
As your exhibitions tour manager, I’m usually the first person a venue talks to, from that first booking inquiry through the day you reload artwork into the crates to head to their next destination. Even before the exhibition arrives at your venue, our full exhibition team has already stepped in to help you with shipping logistics and installation planning, and our curator of education has shared exhibition-specific resources—think press kits, programming guides, community engagement ideas—to help you make the most of your run and engage your community. And I stay in the loop the whole way.
I share all of this because Blair’s story is a good example of how our full team works for you, even if you’ve never booked a traveling exhibition before.
From First-Timers to Repeat Partners
In 2025, Blair booked their first-ever traveling exhibition with us, Small Wonders: Insects in Focus. Margaret didn’t come in with traditional exhibition-installation experience. That’s not unusual, and it’s not a barrier. She later told us the process was a breeze, thanks to our installation videos and registrar’s packet, and that someone from our team was always just a phone call or a quick email away whenever she had questions.
That first exhibition set the tone for how we work with venues like Blair’s, not a one-off exhibition rental, but an ongoing partnership that works closely with each venue’s unique space and community needs. Our team stayed in touch to help identify what might fit the library’s mission and audience next, and when the time came, Margaret booked Portraits of Dementia for the library.
Exhibitions for Every Team, Every Town
This is the part I want every venue considering a booking to hear: it doesn’t matter whether you’re run by a small team of savvy volunteers or a full curatorial staff. We work with your team, your space, and your community to make it work.
Exhibits USA has traveled to more than 1,450 venues and 1,000 communities—urban and rural, well-staffed and lean—because a great exhibition doesn’t need a big city or a big budget to land. It needs a team willing to put it to work, and a partner who sends along everything they need to do it.
If you want to see how the whole process works, from browsing our catalog to opening night, our how-to-book guide walks through it step by step. And if you’re still deciding which exhibition is right for your venue, or just want to talk through what hosting one looks like for a team your size, reach out. I’m happy to talk it through with you, the same way I did with Margaret.
Portraits of Dementia Comes to Blair, Nebraska
“This has been an incredible—powerful—and moving exhibit,” Margaret told us in her evaluation after the show closed. “I was fascinated by the stories I read. Joe Wallace has done an outstanding job bringing information to the public.”
Margaret didn’t stop at hanging the photographs in the library’s exhibition gallery. She reached out to the local Alzheimer’s Association and arranged for a speaker to visit the library twice, presenting two different programs, both well attended. One of Omaha’s local TV stations caught wind of the first event and sent a crew to interview attendees, giving Blair’s library coverage on both the 6 o’clock and 10 o’clock news.
The news coverage was certainly a nice bonus. What mattered more happened more quietly, inside the library itself: visitors slowing down in front of each portrait, reading the story behind it, recognizing the love, dignity, and humanity that persist long after a diagnosis. That’s the whole premise of Portraits of Dementia—moving portraits and stories of lives well lived, in place of fear and loss. The community of Blair, Nebraska, met it exactly where it was aimed.
“Joe Wallace should be given an award of some type,” Margaret added. “This exhibition is something that should be shared and highlighted around the world. He is a dedicated and fascinating man.”
One exhibition that turned into two community presentations and a segment on the evening news, that’s a moment of real, visible connection for their town. And it’s not a fluke of a big budget (Blair doesn’t have one) or a big team (that don’t have one of those either). It’s what happens when a venue connects local resources with the community to make the exhibition their own.
View the full gallery and see the exhibition’s tour schedule.
Intallation view of Portriats of Dementia, courtesy of Irving Arts Center.
Intallation view of Portriats of Dementia, courtesy of Irving Arts Center.
