The folks at the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas, have much to celebrate. In September, True West Magazine ranked it the number one Western art museum in the United States. The magazine evaluates museums based on their exhibits, facilities, multimedia and online accessibility, events, and promotion of historic and cultural resources.
“Last year, we were ranked number two, after the Eiteljorg [Museum of American Indians and West Art],” says Darrell Beauchamp, executive director of the Museum of Western Art. “We’re not the ‘big guys,’ and we don’t try to be. We’re a little museum doing a great job.”
Museum of Western Art Main Gallery
The Museum of Western Art was founded in 1983 as the Cowboy Artists of America (CAA) Museum. “The CAA didn’t have a home, so local business people decided, ‘If we build it, they will come,” Beauchamp says. And come they did, but CAA members couldn’t keep up with the volume of art needed for shows and art events, so that partnership dissolved in 2003—“with no hard feelings,” Beauchamp says—and the Museum of Western Art was born.
The museum continues, however, to have strong connections with the CAA. Some of its members conduct workshops there, and the facility is home to that organization’s archives. It is also home to a special garden that has existed since 1983 and that includes a walkway that features the boot marks, hands, and signatures of 65 CAA members—from Joe Beeler, one of the organization’s original members, to Ron Rencher, who became a member last year. “It’s like the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” Beauchamp says.
Darrell Beauchamp presenting the Gladys and Andy Simon Cowboy Artists of America Garden
Earlier this year, the garden was designated as the Gladys and Andy Simon Cowboy Artists of America Garden. The Simons were art collectors and strong supporters of the museum. At one time, Gladys, who passed away several years ago, served as its director, and Andy was a volunteer whose dedication resulted in his designation as an honorary member of the CAA.
The garden’s anchor is a bronze sculpture created by Fred Fellows, an emeritus member of the CAA. Titled An Honest Day’s Work, it is surrounded by trees and CAA artists’ concrete blocks set in a semi-circle. As each artist visits the museum to make his mark in concrete, staff members conduct a ceremony and invite the artist to talk about his art.
Todd Connor, Albin Veselka, and Alvin Marshall with their CAA bootprints
The 17,000-square-foot Museum of Western Art continues to be a vibrant institution that is home to 650 paintings, approximately 350 sculptures, and 1,000 pieces of ephemera that range from guns to boots. It also houses 6,000 books and magazines that relate to Western art.
During the past five years, True West Magazine has ranked the Museum of Western Art among the top five Western art museums in the country. It should be noted, however, that it is well known throughout the world. “Last year, we had visitors from 49 states and 26 countries,” Beauchamp says.
