The Museum of Western Art, Kerrville, Texas

The Museum of Western Art is located a few miles outside of San Antonio, Texas in Kerrville. The route takes visitors into Texas Hill Country. The building the museum is housed in was built by O'Neil Ford. He was a renowned architect of his time, and thus the building is just as much a part of the art as the collection indoors. The building has heavy timbers and rugged walls with stacked limestone. The outside resembles a fortress style hacienda. There are life size bronze statues on the outer grounds. The facility itself is 14,000 square feet.

The floors are mesquite wood and Saltillo tile. The art museum in Kerrville opened in 1983, but in 2004 the Masel S. Quinn Pavilion was completed. The pavilion is from the Western Art Academy and houses a lot of educational art programs for visitors and residents. When the art museum opened it was called the Cowboy Artists of American Museum. It was named because it brought to life the western life of the Cowboy and early settlers. It also had Native American artwork of the west showing what men and women wore. There were also mountain men exhibits. The museum was eventually renamed to include all of the western art in the title. There is a 5,000 volume western art and history library at the facility.

Hours of operation are 9am to 5pm Tuesday through Saturday. The museum is always closed on Sundays and Mondays. They are also closed for most major holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. On New Year's Eve they close at 1pm. Admission fees of the museum are $7 for adults, $6 for seniors. Military are $4 with ID and children 8 and under are free. Children between 9 and 17 are $5. College students also get in for $5 with ID. School tours are free with teachers and chaperones at a 2 for 1 deal. Reservations are required for the school tours.

Facilities on site are available for rental for classes and meetings. The Western Art Academy provides a number of classes for art students. Teachers are on hand to give their expertise and to allow students a chance to explore their talents. The galleries will still have much of the art discussed above. There is also a children's gallery. This gallery will show children and adults moving west to settle in the deserts and mountains, as well as the plains. Children are able to learn about Native Americans, mountain men, and others who came from the east to west in order to find land.

Visitors to the Western Art Museum can take something home with them. The General Store provides a number of souvenirs such as books, calendars, CD's, and prints. The posters, prints, and canvas prints are created by local artists, and some are re- creations of the art on the gallery walls. The store has stock from as far back as 1981 in case anyone needs to replace an item or wishes to purchase gifts of the past years.