ART LECTURES

Saturday, October 22
Public Lecture
11:00 am
The Smithsonian of the West: the Buffalo Bill Historical Center
Bruce Eldredge, Executive Director and CEO of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, will present an overview of the Center’s past, present and future. Find out what author James Mitchner meant when he referred to the Center as “the Smithsonian of the West.”

Saturday, October 22
Public Lecture
2:00 pm
How the West was…Art: 
Shaping Perceptions of the West through Visual Art
The visual art of the American West is deeply rooted in storytelling, an art form of its own that ultimately shaped the way people view the West, both past and present. Join Christine Brindza, acting curator of the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, for a journey through images that “won the West,” exploring the stories within the Buffalo Bill Historical Center collection.

KEYNOTE LECTURE

Thursday, November 17
Peter H. Hassrick, “Painting an American Identity: The West as Icon and Paradox”
6:00pm, Botanic Hall
Don’t miss this keynote lecture on the subject of artists’ roles in establishing the West as a symbol of America; in celebrating the paradox of the region as a wilderness to be preserved and a resource to be exploited; and in finding a way to deal with the tension they create by idealizing the course of history in their artwork.

Peter H. Hassrick, a prolific writer and independent American art scholar, is Director Emeritus of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Director Emeritus of the Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver Art Museum and the Founding Director Emeritus of the Charles M. Russell Center at the University of Oklahoma. He was also the founding Director of The Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Sante Fe; for twenty years, he served as the Director of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. His devotion to the history and art of the American West has inspired numerous exhibitions, lectures and publications.

Saturday, November 19
Public Lecture
11:00 am
Golden Eagle: Sovereign of the Sagebrush
The Golden Eagle is an icon of the American West. With a seven-foot wingspan and needle-sharp talons as long as a Grizzly Bear’s claws, this formidable predator is revered by past and present cultures. Join Dr. Charles Preston, Senior Curator at the Draper Museum of Natural History, for a multimedia journey into the world of the Golden Eagle and the real Wild West of the 21st century.

Saturday, November 19
Public Lecture
2:00 pm
“The Other End of the Gun"
Join Warren Newman, curator of the Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, as he presents “the rest of the story" about some of the exhibition’s more popular firearms.