Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West Celebrates 10 Years

On January 15, 2025, Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West (Western Spirit), will be celebrating its 10^th year. As the only Smithsonian Affiliate Museum in Scottsdale which has been regularly named the #1 Western Museum in the United States, Western Spirit has become internationally renowned for its dynamic exhibitions and community events filled with historically rich story telling through art, pottery, statues and artifacts.

To celebrate its 10^th anniversary, the Museum has a full year of events and unveilings, including an invite-only VIP party on Wednesday, January 15 where guests will get to explore the museum and learn more about its expansion, which is currently in progress and scheduled for completion in late 2025. Made possible thanks to a $12 million charitable gift from Louis “Buzz” Sands IV, the expansion will add 12,000 square feet of new space with multiple galleries. The expanded facility will be aptly named the Louis Sands IV Center.

This will be followed by Scottsdale Western Week January 25 – February 2, 2025 (featuring Western film screenings in collaboration with the City of Scottsdale, a Pony Express, a parade and more) and the “Western Spirit Award Gala” on February 28, 2025, where award-winning actor Kevin Costner will host an in-person Q&A about his career and be presented the first annual Western Spirit Award.  

“This is a momentous year on many fronts as we usher in not only an entirely new wing with multiple galleries but also new exhibits, events and our first annual Western Spirit Award Gala,” said Todd Bankofier, CEO of Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West.

Currently on display at the Museum are the following exhibitions:

• A Fistful of Colors (running through December 14, 2025)

A vibrant journey through the American West, A Fistful of Colors explores how Western artists have harnessed the rainbow to portray majestic landscapes, bold personalities and thrilling stories that define the region.

• American Backcourts (running through April 13, 2025)

A contemporary photography exhibit, which is the first solo show of artist Rob Hammer, that depicts basketball courts off the beaten path.

• Canvas of Clay: Hopi Pottery Masterworks from the Allan and Judith Cooke Collection (running throughout 2025)

On exhibit for the first time are more than 65 of the finest examples of Hopi pottery, gifted to the museum by The Allan and Judith Cooke Collection. This exhibition celebrates six centuries of the Hopi people and culture, whose tribal land lies in Northern Arizona.

• Collecting Stories: John Coleman Bronzes from the Collection of Frankie and Howard Alper (running throughout 2025)

This selection of bronzes by Western artist John Coleman, shared from the private collection of Frankie and Howard Alper, features the artist’s 10-piece Explorer Artist Series, among many others.

• Courage & Crossroads: A Visual Journey through the American West (running throughout 2025)

This exhibition features more than 100 paintings and sculptures by artists ranging from Thomas Moran and Alfred Jacob Miller to Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, and vintage photographs by Edward S. Curtis.

• People, Places, Predicaments: John Clymer’s West (running through October 26, 2025)

Featuring over 50 paintings by the extraordinary artist John Ford Clymer, donated from the Eddie Basha Collection of over 3,000 significant works, this exhibition offer a glimpse into bygone era and grandeur of the West, honoring the diverse peoples who shaped its history.

• The Abe Hays Family Spirit of the West Collection (running throughout 2025)

Revolvers, rifles, saddles, knives, holsters, spurs, chaps, badges and more. See a collection of 1,400 extremely rare Old West items from Scottsdale gallerist Abe Hays.

• Veryl Goodnight: Sled Dogs in America (running throughout 2025)

An exhibition of works by artist Veryl Goodnight which shares the stories and many roles that sled dogs and their drivers had in American history.

• Women of the Southwest: A Legacy of Painting (running throughout 2025)

One of the largest women-made art exhibits in the nation, this curated selection of nearly 200 works by 25 women, which was gifted to the museum by Fran and Edward Elliott, celebrates the pioneering women artists who made a place for the arts in Arizona when there was none.

For more information on Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West and their upcoming exhibits, expansion and event tickets, visit www.westernspirit.org, call  or follow them on social media at @smowest on Instagram and Facebook.com/westernspiritmuseum.