If you are looking for a local family excursion, the Autry Museum is a great place to visit during the winter break. The museum is offering Panning for Gold for kids on Saturday and there are wonderful exhibits that are currently running.
One major exhibit is “Art of the West,” which features more than 100 works of art that explore the meaning of Western art as it has evolved among diverse peoples and across generations.
Drawing on both the Autry and Southwest Museum of the American Indian collections, “Art of the West” surveys the shared values and interests that have inspired artists from different cultures and times.
“Art of the West” showcases the dynamic and evolving world of art that springs from the cultural practices of some of the many peoples who have shaped the American West. This exhibition is the first of its kind to explore how shared values and interests create distinctive, powerful works that speak to their experience of the West as both a destination and a home
Historical works by masters such as Thomas Moran and Frederic Remington are seen alongside modern and contemporary pieces by Virgil Ortiz, Georgia O’Keeffe, Luis Tapia, David Levinthal, and many others.
“With Art of the West, we have an extraordinary opportunity to reach across art historical boundaries to discover what connects artists of different generations and origins,” says W. Richard West, Jr., president and CEO, Autry National Center.
“Setting disparate works side-by-side yields striking juxtapositions that illuminate cross-cultural parallels, influences, and distinctions. It is a fresh, visual retelling of the story that enriches the entire narrative of the American West and strikes a new path for interpreting our rich collections.”
“Art of the West” is thematically organized, investigating Western art through the lenses of Religion and Ritual, Land and Landscape, and Migration and Movement. The exhibition freely mingles art forms, genres, eras, and media. Functional objects are seen alongside painting and sculpture. “Art of the West” features outstanding examples of leatherwork, basketry, textiles, ceramics, glass, metalwork, wood, jewelry, video, and more. Artworks are as varied as a Hmong quilt, a fourteen-foot-tall crucifix, a Victorian velvet dress, and a motorcycle. Works by Native peoples from California, the Northwest Coast, the Southwest, and Great Plains are shown alongside those by Spanish colonial artists, Romantic-era painters, modernists, and contemporary artists of various backgrounds and experiences.
Over the centuries, religious beliefs and rituals have played a major role in shaping artistic practice across the West. From the devotional art of New Spain to the Native dance rituals of the Southwest and the graphic symbolism of Northwest Coast mythology, art in the West is rich with religious and spiritual meaning.
About the Autry National Center The Autry is a museum dedicated to exploring and sharing the stories, experiences, and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West, connecting the past to the present to inspire our shared future. The museum presents a wide range of exhibitions and public programs—including lectures, film, theatre, festivals, family events, and music—and performs scholarship, research, and educational outreach. The Autry’s collection of more than 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts includes the Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, one of the largest and most significant of Native American materials in the United States.
Museum admission is $10 for adults, $6 for students and seniors 60+, $4 for children ages 3–12, and free for Autry members, veterans, and children age 2 and under. Admission is free on the second Tuesday of every month.
Autry National Center, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027-1462 • 323.667.2000 • TheAutry.org Page 5 of 5
Hours:
Museum and Autry Store: Tuesday–Friday, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. / Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Autry Cafe: Tuesday–Sunday, 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
The museum, store, and cafe are closed on Mondays. Visit TheAutry.org for more information.