LIMESTONE COWBOY

The attraction of Kerrville’s Museum of Western Art lies as much in its outside walls as in the artwork found inside. The structure’s heavy timbers and rugged retaining walls of stacked limestone, created to resemble a fortressed hacienda, is the work of Texas architect O’Neil Ford. The handsome building design, destined to join the status of many of the works hanging on the walls as “classics”, combines a traditional Southwestern style with a modernization of Hill Country vernacular. Established in 1983 with a mission to celebrate the art in western heritage, the Museum and its building boasts a fourteen thousand square foot facility with end-cut mesquite wood and Saltillo tile floors. Visitors are treated to an exhibition of the genre’s finest artwork by both period and contemporary artists. The permanent collection includes approximately 150 sculptures and 250 paintings featuring examples of painters E. I. Couse and Oscar Berninghaus, both members of the historic Taos School. An extensive research library of over 3000 volumes compliments the work on display. In addition, a changing roster of curated exhibitions helps to keep the collection, art in western heritage, and the genre’s connection to the modern age relevant.