UW Art Museum Receives Grant to Support New West Exhibition

The University of Wyoming Art Museum has received a $43,000 grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art to support an upcoming exhibition.

The Terra Foundation for American Art is dedicated to fostering exploration, understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts of the United States for national and international audiences. To further cross-cultural dialogue on American art, the foundation supports and collaborates on innovative exhibitions, research and educational programs.

“We are honored to be selected for a Terra Foundation for American Art grant to support ‘The New West: The University of Wyoming Art Museum at Fifty,’” says Nicole Crawford, director and chief curator at the UW Art Museum. “These grants are extremely competitive, with only 33 institutions receiving funds last year. We are humbled to be representing Wyoming within this high level of awardees.”

“The New West: The University of Wyoming Art Museum at Fifty” will re-present traditional narratives to highlight Indigenous voices, place landscapes in a historical perspective and examine the history of collecting art from the American West. The grant will support engaging Indigenous artists and/or scholars to contribute to a reinterpretation of the art museum’s Western collections and the production of a catalog.

“The art museum has a large collection of Western art that we would like to continue to interpret in nuanced and meaningful ways,” says Michelle Sunset, curator at the UW Art Museum. “This exhibition specifically will further the goals of smaller exhibitions curated by the art museum, including ‘The West on Horseback,’ through which curators have used the collections to broaden visitors’ understanding of what Western American art is and to prioritize Indigenous perspectives.”

The exhibition will serve to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the UW Art Museum, which got its start in 1972 in the Fine Arts Building, now known as the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts. In 1993, the museum made its new home in the Centennial Complex, where it houses a permanent collection of over 10,000 objects.

Using its encyclopedic collections that range from the 11th century B.C. to contemporary from across the world, the museum seeks to reflect on its history, change its trajectory by repositioning Western American art in a global narrative, and demonstrate the possibilities of museums outside of coastal metropolises.

“The New West: The University of Wyoming Art Museum at Fifty” will be on view summer and fall of 2023.

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 shares in the transformative power of art through exhibiting, preserving and interpreting visual culture from around the world. As an integral part of UW, the museum fosters a deeper connection with humanity and creativity that envisions new futures by engaging academic, local, state, national and global communities.

The museum is located at 2111 E. Willett Drive in Laramie. Hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday hours are extended to 7 p.m. Admission is free.