KEEPING THE WEST ALIVE!

WESTERN ART MUSEUMS PAINT A PICTURE OF OPTIMISM AND EXCITEMENT DURING A TIME OF CHANGES.

- JOHNNY D. BOGGS AND THE EDITORS OF TRUE WEST

 "This is an ongoing question for Western art museums," Christina Horton, communications officer for the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana, says.

The question, of course, is: What efforts are you doing to bring in younger fans of Western art, or getting youth to learn about Western art/history? Which is something Western art museums have been trying to figure out across the United States.

"Our average visitor is in their 60s," Horton says, "so it's something we ask every day." "I equate it with not hearing babies crying in church, adds Deana Lowe Craighead, hired in August 2021 as curator of art at Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas. "If you don't have a new generation...the health of your organization is in jeopardy. One of the things that makes museums more relevant is appealing to moms and young families. But that's a hard group to court."

The C.M. Russell Museum attracted younger visitors in 2020 with an exhibit on Andy Warhol. "We're also stepping up our presence on Instagram and interacting with contemporary Western artists, Horton says.

Meanwhile, the museum's main fundraising event, "The Russell," held August 18-21, was reimagined this year with more than 100 artist suites free and open to the public-a first at the museum. "In these suites, Horton said, "people see artwork and engage with the artists who created it. All of the artists have pieces in the auction, as well."

Darrell Beauchamp, executive director of the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas, stresses the importance of outreach programs to area schools to help bring in new fans, patrons and, possibly, new Western artists down the road.