Best Western Art Museum of 2008
Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia.
Categories: Art of the True West , Featured Travel Stories
By: Johnny D. Boggs 04/01/2008
Sometimes, we tend to preach to the choir. Western museums don’t have to be based in the West. Besides, Cartersville, Georgia, was once the American frontier.
Opened in 2003, the Booth Western Art Museum houses exhibits in seven glorious galleries: American West, Mythic West, Reel West, Cowboy, Sagebrush Ranch, War is Hell and Presidential.
“We really try to bring the West to our guests,” says Kathy Lyles, associate director of marketing. “Our tagline is ‘Explore the West without Leaving the South.’” The Booth definitely accomplishes that with some 800 pieces of art covering 80,000 square feet (and another 40,000-square-foot addition under construction), plus a Cowboy Gathering in March and a Cowboy Festival and Symposium in October.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (Indianapolis, IN): An amazing collection of great art, lectures, “Curator’s Choice” events and one of the world’s best Indian art markets.
Gilcrease Museum of the Americas (Tulsa, OK): If you want to study American art and history, few museums can match this gem’s facilities and gardens.
Leanin’ Tree Museum and Sculpture Garden of Western Art (Boulder, CO): More than 250 paintings and 150 bronze sculptures, and you can view them free of charge, which has been the museum’s mission for more than 30 years.
Phippen Museum (Prescott, AZ): Great museum in a historic town with a fund-raising Memorial Day weekend art show that brings in more than 10,000 visitors.
Whitney Gallery of Western Art (Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY): A spectacular collection that shows the people, land and events that shaped the West, told in chronological order by masters such as Thomas Moran and Frederic Remington.
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