The American Museum of Western Art—The Anschutz Collection displays over 300 paintings that survey 200 years of westward expansion. To make the breadth of our collection more digestible in a classroom environment, we’ve broken it down into three categories.

Each of the categories below includes lesson and activity ideas on three paintings and topics for in-classroom use. The lessons include background information, an invitation to look at the paintings more closely, discussion questions, and an activity with downloadable worksheets. You will notice that the step-by-step instructions for each lesson can be adapted to or expanded on for grade levels P-12, and cover a wide array of Colorado state standards in Visual Arts, Social Studies, Reading, Writing and Communication, and Science.

People

The people that inhabited and settled the American Frontier were a diverse mix of cultures and professions. Their experiences together, good and bad, shaped the character of the region.

BlumenscheinEL_SangreDeChristo_thumbArtists in the West BentonTH_WheatThreshingOnTheHighPlains_thumb.jpgLiving in the American West RemingtonF_ColdMorningOnTheRange_thumbPeople as Subjects:
Creating the Characters of the West

Places

The people that inhabit the Western United States have a special relationship with the natural world around them. The land is imposing and awe-inspiring, the flora and fauna diverse and unique. People here learned to live within the bounds of the natural world, and attempted to master it. Artists took inspiration from what they experienced, and used the environment to create myths, metaphors, and a modern aesthetic.

BierstadtA_WindRiverWyoming_thumbMaking America in Landscape OKeeffeG_RedHillsGreySky_thumbAmerican Modernism in the West HaysWJ_GatheringOfTheHerds_thumbArtists and Nature

Stories

Artists interpreted events or used Western subjects to create visual narratives. Utilizing several artistic techniques and styles, they expressed the drama, action, and emotion of the real or imagined stories of the West.

LeutzeEG_LastOfMohicans_thumbArt and Literature RanneyWT_LastShot_thumbInspired by Actual Events TheLadyWins-N.C.Wyeth_thumbIllustrating the West