All Things Western Revived?

Top Western Art Museums
Many filmmakers and studio executives are realizing that there’s a revived interest in all things Western. But don’t be surprised if your local art museum directors and patrons shrug off such a comment. They’ve known that for years.

Here are this year’s favorites:

 

• Museum ofWestern Art
  (Kerrville, TX): The former Cowboy Artists of America Museum, which opened in 1983, has expanded since separating, by mutual consent with the CAA, in 2003. Roughly 30,000 visitors come each year, and while artwork by “cowboy” artists is always displayed, the museum showcases a wide range of art. Wildlife photographer Rachel Spencer’s Wildlife Icons of the American West ends August 30; Walt Gonske’s The Church Series runs September 6-November 8; and The New American West by Brush and by Bronze, featuring Kathleen Frank’s landscapes and Mark Lynn Harris’s sculptures (which includes alabaster, marble and limestone as well as bronze), should dazzle art lovers during its November 15-January 10 showing.
  MuseumOfWesternArt.com

 

• Desert Caballeros Western Museum
  (Wickenburg, AZ): Sadly, The Horse in Art closed in June after a roughly 11-month run, but we look forward to Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces (September 19-November 29), which honors all Native Americans (including those from Alaska and Hawaii) who have served our country. Even if you’ve visited the National Native American Veterans Memorial at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., this is must-see.
  WesternMuseum.org

 

• The Brinton Museum
  (Big Horn, WY): It’s hard to pick what’s the best thing about this perennial favorite. The views…historic ranch house…nature trail…gardens…leather shop. But the art museum is fabulous. Hurry! Anatomy of Life and Land: Jacob Aguiar and Kathryn Mapes Turner, showcasing works by these two landscape artists who met at the Brinton, closes September 8.
  TheBrintonMuseum.org

 

• Booth Western Art Museum
  (Cartersville, GA): Our South-Western favorite, the Booth continues to grab the attention of art lovers and history buffs. Where else could you find a photographic exhibits of a 1960s Chicago motorcycle club—Danny Lyon: The Bikeriders (through January 18)—and Western women—The West in Focus: Women (through January 18) plus, for film buffs, Western Costumes from the Silver Screen: The Davey Collection (through September 21) and Selling the Western: Movie Posters Old & New (through October 26)
  BoothMuseum.org

 

• Denver Art Museum
  (Denver, CO): This museum shows art of many genres, but its latest Western selection, Sustained! The Persistent Genius of Indigenous Art (which runs through December), is about as powerful as any we’ve seen. Make sure you also visit the Indigenous Arts of North America Galleries in the Martin Building.
  DenverArtMuseum.org

 

• Nevada Museum of Art
  (Reno, NV): Even this 70,000-square-foot building, designed by architect Will Bruder and opened in 2003,
  is a work of art. There’s something for everyone, from The Lowry & Croul Collection of Contemporary Native American Art (through November 16) to Dorothea Lange: Seeing People (through February 15) and Of the Earth: Native American Baskets and Pueblo Pottery (through December 31, 2027).
  NevadaArt.org

 

• Hulett Museum & Art Gallery
  (Hulett, WY): Artwork includes paintings and sketches, but the event to see is the annual quilt show. This year’s dates are September 19-21. Can’t wait to see what new museum director Kim Somervold has planned for this museum, which has celebrated northeastern Wyoming’s culture, history and art for 15 years.
  HulettMuseum.com

 

• Taos Art Museum
  (Taos, NM): Housed in the historic Fechin House in the town that defined New Mexico art, this museum never disappoints. Masterful Expression: Nicolai Fechin’s Portraiture runs through December 25, and Selections from the Janis and Roy Coffee Collection runs through January 11.
  TaosArtMuseum.org

 

• Kenedy Ranch Museum
  (Sarita, TX): Mexican artist Daniel Lechón’s murals tell the history of South Texas and the Kenedy family. Check out Kim Crowley’s sculptures. At press time, the museum planned to be open weekends, but by appointment only on weekdays.
  Kenedy.org

 

• Clymer Museum of Art
  (Ellensburg, WA): Edward S. Curtis: “The Picture Opera,” closing August 31, resurrected the photographer’s 1911-1912 and 1912-1913 Magic Lantern Slide shows. Those were financial failures then, but this exhibit of hand-colored images has wowed viewers. And we can never get enough of John Clymer’s visions of the West.
  ClymerMuseum.org

 

Favorite Western Regional Art Museums

 

• A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art
  (Trinidad, CO): This museum that showcases one of the golden era of pulp magazines’ best artists honors a contemporary artist’s take on the works of the iconic Louis L’Amour. Artist Gregory Manchess’s show, L’Amour by Manchess, features 46 sketches and paintings and runs through September.
  ARMitchellMuseum.com

 

• C.M. Russell Museum
  (Great Falls, MT): Western art fans never get enough of Charlie Russell, and there’s no better place to see his work. Russell’s illustrated letters are back with Greetings From Charlie, but, true to Charlie’s nature, the museum showcases the artwork of Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal member Corwin “Corky” Clairmont and Montana photographer Robert Osborn, all running through December.
  CMRussell.org

• Chisholm Trail Heritage Center
  (Cuero, TX): The work of B. Williams, aka Bee Doublehue, was featured earlier this year. And we tip our hats to this museum for getting our youth interested in cattle drives, cowboys and art with programs like June’s Free Family Art Monday and September-October’s Cowpokes & Brushstrokes.
  OnTheChisholmTrail.com

• Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
  (Indianapolis, IN): Richard Swanson: Radio, running through this fall, reinterprets how you think about barbed wire. But traditional Western art fans and patrons of Native art still get their fill in the Western Art and Native American collections.
  Eiteljorg.org

• Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
  (Norman, OK): Football isn’t the only king on the University of Oklahoma campus. The James T. Bialac Native American Art Collection houses more than 4,500 objects, and Nicolai Fechin: An Artistic Journey runs October 3 through April 5.
  OU.edu/fjjma

 

• Heard Museum
  (Phoenix, AZ): There’s still time to check out Storyteller: The Photography of Jerry Jacka,
  running through October 12, and Hoop Dance! (through November 2). Try to catch the annual World Championship Hoop Dance Contest February 14-15 and the annual Indian Fair & Market March 7-8.
  Heard.org

 

• Joslyn Art Museum
  (Omaha, NE): This favorite completed a full year back in business on April 25 after being closed for two years for expansion, restoration and transformation. It hasn’t missed a beat. We look forward to Henry Payer’s Karl Bodmer-inspired Appliqué sur le terrain, featuring Native ribbonwork appliqué, which runs September 10-January 11.
  Joslyn.org

• Maryhill Museum of Art
  (Goldendale, WA): What started out in 1914 as a planned hilltop mansion, segued into an art museum a few years later, was dedicated in 1926 but didn’t open until 1940 has become known for a bevy of historic artwork, including Native works from the Columbia River Plateau.
  MaryHillMuseum.org

• Nelson Museum of the West
  (Cheyenne, WY): A must-see stop when visiting Wyoming’s capital, founder Robert L. Nelson’s collection runs the gamut from cuffs and hats to paintings, pottery, weavings and photographs to spurs, boots and saddles to firearms and costumes.
  NelsonMuseum.org

• Olaf Wieghorst Museum & Western Heritage Center
  (El Cajon, CA): The museum celebrated its 25th anniversary on April 30, which just happened to be the 126th birthday of the Denmark native who arrived in America in 1918 and became one of the top Western artists of his era.
  WieghorstMuseum.org

• Old Jail Art Center
  (Albany, TX): Shackelford County’s first permanent building houses not prisoners but 17,000 square feet dedicated to art, archives and education. More than 2,300 pieces of art, old and new, reside here, plus the educational programs could inspire young artists to pursue their dreams.
  TheOJAC.org

 

• Phippen Museum
  (Prescott, AZ): This stalwart showcased some of the best from its permanent collection earlier this year, saluted Arizona cowboy poets and poet gathering poster art (ending August 31), and its permanent displays shouldn’t be missed.
  PhippenArtMuseum.org

• South Dakota Art Museum
  (Brookings, SD): Her Art, Her Story: South Dakota Women Artists (1900-1950) featured early 20th-century women artists, Creation.Story used Lakota and Dakota artists to tell Očhéthi Šakówiŋ oral traditions. And its collection of Harvey Dunn’s works is wonderful.
  SDState.edu/south-dakota-art-museum

• Stark Museum of Art
  (Orange, TX): Kudos for revealing the “art” of literature with Off the Shelf: Children’s Literature of The W.H. Stark House, through December 20, while A Time Before Texas, through November 1, looks at the Paleoindian era through lenses of science and cultural traditions.
  StarkMuseum.org

• Tucson Museum of Art
  (Tucson, AZ): We salute this perennial favorite for wowing patrons with Divergence of Legacy: Art of the American West in the 21st Century, which closed in June, and for continuing to expand its Art of the American West collection.
  TucsonMuseumOfArt.org

 

Special Callout
New Museum
Openings or Exhibits

Amarillo Museum of Art
(Amarillo, TX): This small museum has made a big impression with its touching, tear-jerking Home, Love, and Loss exhibition (closing September 14) that focuses on life, death and family bonds with art from masters including Thomas Hart Benton, T.C. Cannon and Georgia O’Keeffe.
AMoA.org

When he isn’t writing about Western art, True West contributor Johnny D. Boggs is probably at work on a Western novel. His latest is Bloody Newton.