Programs

Artful Insight — Birger Sandzén

May 05, 2025

Monday, May 5, 2025, 3:00 p.m.

Birger Sandzén came to the US from his home in Sweden in 1894 to teach at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. At just 23 years old, he was hired to teach languages and assist in the art and vocal music departments. His talent for art won him the principal art instructor position in 1899, where he remained until retiring in 1946. He also has ties to Colorado. He taught as a guest artist at the Broadmoor Art Academy (later the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center) and the Chappell House School of Art in Denver. In addition to teaching, Sandzén was a prolific painter, producing at least 2600 oil paintings and 500 watercolors. He is known for his bold use of stroke, color, and heavy impasto paint. Many of his paintings feature landscapes of the American Southwest, Rocky Mountain National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and his beloved Kansas. His work can be found in the premier art institutions in the US and Sweden, including here at the American Museum of Western Art.
Image credit: Birger Sandzén, Colorado Mountain View, 1923

Westbound – Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir by Deborah A. Miranda

May 13, 2025

Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 10:30am Westbound will discuss Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir by Deborah A. Miranda. Pre-registration is required and will be limited to 15 guests.

Book ticket

Writing the West – Celebratory Reading

May 14, 2025

Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 2:00-4:00pm Join us at AMWA for Writing the West, our monthly writing series combining art history, storytelling, and participants’ creative voices. To help inspire your writing, we’ll explore the Museum’s galleries, stopping to learn about specific paintings relevant to each month’s theme.

Book ticket

Artful Insight – Thomas Eakins

June 02, 2025

Monday, June 2, 2025, 3:00 pm

One of America’s foremost figure painters and portraitists, Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) is known for his paintings of Philadelphia’s scientists, sportsmen, and thinkers. However, in 1887, when Eakins was at a crisis point in his professional life, he headed west to seek solace in the landscape and physical work of a cattle ranch in Dakota Territory. Eakins’ time in the West inspired him for the rest of his life. This Artful Insight will discuss his work, focusing on the Dakota pictures, which offer a different view of the “typical cowboy.”
Image credit: Thomas Eakins, Cowboy Singing, c. 1892

Book ticket

Puzzlin’ Art SPARK! Program 6/19/25

June 19, 2025

Thursday, June 19, 2025 In partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association Colorado Chapter, the American Museum of Western Art offers this SPARK program as an opportunity for individuals with mild memory loss and their care partners to enjoy art and artifacts in a guided, comfortable setting that is both welcoming and stimulating. Call 303-293-2000 to Register

Performance – El Vaquero

June 20, 2025

Friday, June 20, 2025, 3:00 p.m.

American cowboy culture owes a lot to the first cowboys, los vaqueros. Los vaqueros were Spanish colonists who pioneered taming the wild horses of the plains and delivering vast herds of cattle across great distances. This performance is a costumed portrayal of the stories of the first cowboy, El Vaquero, by author, performer, stage director, and teacher, Angel Vigil. Vigil is a Colorado Heritage Artist storyteller who has performed nationwide and is the author of six award-winning books on Hispanic and Western culture and arts. The stories of El Vaquero explain the origins of the most powerful and enduring American myth: the cowboy on his horse, riding tall in the saddle, his self-reliant, independent spirit representing all that is good in the American character.

Book ticket

Westbound – Go as a River by Shelley Read

July 08, 2025

Tuesday, July 8, 2025, 10:30am Westbound will discuss Go as a River by Shelley Read. Pre-registration is required and will be limited to 15 guests.

Book ticket

Westbound – Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

September 09, 2025

Tuesday, September 9, 2025, 10:30am Westbound will discuss Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Pre-registration is required and will be limited to 15 guests.

Book ticket

Puzzlin’ Art SPARK! Program 9/18/25

September 18, 2025

Thursday, September 18, 2025 In partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association Colorado Chapter, the American Museum of Western Art offers this SPARK program as an opportunity for individuals with mild memory loss and their care partners to enjoy art and artifacts in a guided, comfortable setting that is both welcoming and stimulating. Call 303-293-2000 to Register

Westbound – The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich

November 11, 2025

Tuesday, November 11, 2025, 10:30am Westbound will discuss The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich. Pre-registration is required and will be limited to 15 guests.

Book ticket

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