Museum of Nebraska Art, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
KEARNEY — On March 7, 2026, in Kearney the Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA) is pleased to host an artist talk at 2 p.m. with Cindy Weil in conjunction with her exhibition Cindy Weil: Only Wool.
On view through March 8, 2026 in the rotating exhibition gallery on the museum’s second floor, the exhibition marks Weil’s first solo museum presentation and brings together a selection of her sculptural works, celebrating the expressive range and unexpected versatility of wool as a medium for soft sculpture.
Weil’s history as an artist and relationship with wool are communicated through the material of each sculpture. For most of the sculptures in the exhibition, she sourced her wool and fleece from a farm in Ashland, Nebraska, sheared from sheep she met in person. Through her intentional choice of local material, her art is inextricably connected to the state where she was raised. “I source wool from all over the world. Different wools behave differently in the felting process, so I use the most appropriate wool for the effect I am trying to achieve,” Weil said.
Weil’s sculptures seem to capture a transformation in motion, a carefully considered exploration of color, softness, and depth—an intimate conversation between the viewer, artist, and the wool.
This event is free and open to the public.
About the Artist
Cindy Weil is an Omaha, Nebraska-based artist. She is the founder of The Wallpaper Collective, the first online wallpaper retailer, and creative director of her brand, I80West Design Studio. She launched the Immigrant Yarn Project in 2017, a public art exhibition where she built 80 yarn-based sculptures using materials from over 600 diverse contributors from countries across the globe. The project raised $25,000 to support immigrants in crisis at the United States’ southern border.
Her art can be found in private and commercial collections around the country, including the Museum of Nebraska Art. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including venues such as the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha, Nebraska; the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, New York; the Textile Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Fort Point National Historic Site in San Francisco, California; and the Icelandic Textile Center in Blönduós, Iceland.
Weil holds a Master of Fine Arts from the New York School of Interior Design and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Creighton University. She completed a residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and the Icelandic Textile Center in Blönduós, Iceland. She creates her art at studios in Omaha, Nebraska and New York City.
