The exhibition “Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea” travels to Washington

From July 28, 2023, to January 14, 2024, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., will be the final stop on the tour of the exhibition “Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea”

Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum · Image: Juan de Dios Mora, “Bien Arreglada” (All Decked Out), 2010, linocut, 22 3/8 in. × 30 in. (56.8 × 76.2 cm), Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2019.35.5, ©2019, Juan de Dios Mora.

Ideas about the American West, both in popular culture and in commonly accepted historical narratives, are often based on a past that never was, and fail to take into account important events that actually occurred. The exhibition “Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea,” examines the perspectives of 48 modern and contemporary artists who offer a broader and more inclusive view of this region. This exhibition presents an opportunity to examine previous misconceptions, question racist clichés and highlight the multiple communities and histories that continue to form this iconic region of the United States. Working in various media, from painting and sculpture to photography and mixed media, the artists featured in the exhibition bring a nuanced and multifaceted history into view. Among the many voices and communities highlighted in this exhibition, “Many Wests” showcases artworks by artists who are Black, white, women, men, LGBTQ+, Native American, Asian American and Latinx. 

“Many Wests” features artwork drawn from the permanent collections of all five collaborating museums and the exhibition will be presented at all five venues. The multi-city national tour began at the Boise Art Museum (July 31 to Feb. 13, 2022). The exhibition then traveled to the Whatcom Museum (March 19, 2022, to Aug. 21, 2022), the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (Sept. 26, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022) and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (Feb. 4, 2023, to June 11, 2023). The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., will be the final stop on the tour, where the exhibition will be on view from July 28, 2023, to Jan. 14, 2024.

 “This nationally touring exhibition, organized through a deeply collaborative process with our colleagues, presents the opportunity to see the West anew through the eyes of diverse modern and contemporary artists,” said Stephanie Stebich, the Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “Thanks to the generous support and encouragement from Art Bridges to think differently about how art is seen in communities across the United States, we see this as a model for both collection sharing and better understanding the rich and varied, and sometimes contradictory, stories of the American people and their histories.”

The exhibition is bilingual with English and Spanish labels, and organized into three sections: “Caretakers,” “Memory Makers” and “Boundary Breakers.” These overarching themes illuminate the different ways artists create countervailing views of life in and the history of the American West.