Attention lovers of art, architecture, and all things Western! The next time you're in Kerr County, you'll want to put Kerrville's Museum of Western Art high on your to-do list. This inspiring collection of works by many of America's most prestigious Western artists celebrates long-closed chapters of American history as well as recognizing and embracing its enduring legacy. The museum's exhibits illuminate the fact, the fiction, and the fantasy surrounding the peoples of the American West: cowboys and Native Americans, plus the settlers, adventurers and even the ne'er-do-wells who answered the call of Manifest Destiny and went West.

This remarkable museum first opened on April 23, 1983, as the Cowboy Artists of America Museum. In the years since, hundreds of thousands of visitors have wandered the museum galleries, marveling at the magnificent artworks and sharing a glimpse of the majesty and difficulty of life in the West.

Located on ten acres of land overlooking the Guadalupe River, the museum gives an initial impression like that of a Spanish fortress, or perhaps an ancient hacienda. This is not surprising, given that the Museum of Western Art was the last public project of O'Neil Ford (1905-1982), the celebrated Texas regionalist architect famed for his work in Southwestern style architecture. The building, which was constructed entirely of materials found in the region, seems to work in partnership with its environment and with the life-size bronze sculptures dappling the grounds. There exists a sense of timelessness here, the feeling that in this place one can step out of the normal, hurried ebb-and-flow of daily life and visit a different, more leisurely world .

Once inside, the quiet magnificence of the structure continues to work harmoniously with the extraordinary art it houses. Although over 14,000 square feet, the arrangement of the space creates a welcoming, almost intimate atmosphere. The handcrafted boveda ceilings, an architectural feature more ...

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