UW Art Museum to Commemorate 50th Anniversary With ‘New West’ Exhibition

To commemorate its 50th anniversary, the University of Wyoming Art Museum will present an exhibition to explore its place in the American West.

“The New West: University of Wyoming Art Museum at Fifty” will open Saturday, July 8. The exhibition will re-present “traditional” narratives to highlight Indigenous voices, place landscapes in historical perspective and raise questions about the history of collecting art of the American West.

Modeled loosely on Fred Wilson’s “Mining the Museum” (1993) installation at the Maryland Historical Society, “The New West” employs a critical framework to place artworks in new contexts that invite dialogue about the role of museums and their representation of culture through display and interpretation.  

Using the UW Art Museum’s encyclopedic permanent collection, guest curator Robert Martinez collaborated with art museum curators Nicole Crawford and Michelle Sunset to develop an exhibition that challenges visitors to interrogate their perceptions of what Western art is and broaden their understanding of the region.

“We are so honored to work with Robert Martinez,” says Crawford, director and chief curator. “Our discussions with him have allowed us to consider artwork in our collection in ways we have not previously.”

“The New West” is part of a continued project of rethinking Western art. It is necessarily incomplete, as the exhibition represents just three curators working within the constraints of the collection as it stands today.

The expansive exhibition spans three galleries. In addition to works from the art museum’s permanent collection, “The New West” is composed of artworks created specifically for the exhibition, an installation in the museum’s rotunda and a film screening in the Wyoming Gallery Theater.

The exhibition is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art. Additional support is provided by Genesis Alkali, Pence and MacMillan LLC, Roy and Caryl Cline, and the Susan Moldenhauer FUNd for Contemporary Art.

For more information about the UW Art Museum, call (307) 766-6622; visit the website at www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum; or follow the museum on Facebook and Instagram.

The UW Art Museum exhibits, preserves and interprets visual culture from around the world to engage academic, local, state, national and global communities. The museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 E. Willett Drive in Laramie. Hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free.