Roping with Kevin Fitzpatrick at National Day of the Cowboy. Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.
Celebrate National Day of the Cowboy at the Briscoe Western Art Museum
Saturday, July 26 | 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Briscoe Western Art Museum | 210 W. Market Street, San Antonio, TX Free Admission | Free Activities | Family-Friendly Fun
Saddle up, San Antonio! The Briscoe Western Art Museum is bringing the Wild West to life for a full day of cowboy culture, family fun, and cultural celebration at its National Day of the Cowboy event on Saturday, July 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.(Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2025)
This free community event honors the spirit and traditions of the American cowboy, Mexican vaquero, and Hawaiian paniolo. Held in the heart of downtown San Antonio, the celebration features a wide range of hands-on activities, artist demonstrations, music, food, and more. Plus, enjoy free museum admission all day long—including access to the special exhibition “Aloha Vaqueros,” which explores the rich connections between cowboy cultures across borders and oceans.
🐴 Family Fun at the Lil Buckaroo Corral
Kids can kick up some dust and wrangle up excitement with:
Stick pony barrel racing
Horseshoe tosses & lasso lessons
Bull riding & cowboy crafts (make your own spur, hat, or brand!)
Lei making & silversmith etching with Nā Mamo cultural group, performing live at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
🤠 Cowboy Culture Comes Alive
Explore the museum’s 14 galleries, the McNutt Sculpture Garden, and enjoy:
Roping demonstrations from a talented trick roper
Rodeo fun with local cowboys and the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo
An inside look at escaramuza attire and performances—featuring live Q&A with a local rider
🎨 Western Art in Action
See artistry in motion with live demonstrations from celebrated Western artists:
Wilson Capron – Silversmith & engraver
Leland Hensley – Rawhide braider
Jason Scull – Western sculptor
Mike Capron – Western painter
🎶 Music, Poetry & Storytelling
Cowboy poetry with Don Mathis – 12:30 p.m.
Cowboy ballads with Jesse White – 3 p.m.
Story time with Antoinette Lakey, featuring trailblazing cowboy Mary Fields – 1 & 1:30 p.m.
🌮 Cowboy-Approved Eats
Refuel with food truck favorites available for purchase all day:
Cake-N-Que
Hokulani Shave Ice
Plus, free chuck wagon cobbler samples while supplies last!
🐂 Why Celebrate?
Launched in 2005 and officially recognized in Texas since 2015, National Day of the Cowboy honors the legacy of the American cowboy, cowgirl, vaquero, and paniolo. The Briscoe’s annual celebration is a beloved tradition that preserves and highlights this rich cultural heritage.
🎟️ Admission is free, but space is limited—pre-register nowto secure your spot for this unforgettable day of Western wonder.
Celebrate the cowboy way – Briscoe style!
Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.
Celebrate the legacy of the West at the Briscoe Western Art Museum this Saturday July 27, 2024. Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.
It’s time to celebrate the legacy of the West – the cowgirls, the cowboys, and vaqueros at the Briscoe Western Art Museum’s National Day of the Cowboy celebration Saturday, July 27, 10a.m. – 4p.m. at the museum’s campus on the banks of the River Walk. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2024)
This free community event includes free admission to the museum and its exhibitions, as well as indoor and outdoor activities. This year’s event tips its hat to the role cowgirls play in the West while showcasing cowboy life, skills, art, and more. Cowboys and girls of all ages can enjoy live music, games, crafts, a chuck wagon with tasty cowboy treats straight from the trail, artist demonstrations, and hands-on fun. Pre-register in advance to enjoy the free Western fun.
One of the Briscoe’s most treasured annual events, National Day of the Cowboy highlights and preserves America’s cowboy culture and pioneer heritage. The day began in 2005 to celebrate and preserve the heritage of the American cowboy, cowgirl, and vaquero in the United States. The state of Texas declared it a day of honor in 2015 and the Briscoe annually hosts a free community day marking the occasion, throwing open the doors of the museum to honor the cowgirl, cowboy, and vaquero in us all.
Free event and museum admission and activities for the whole family, including the museum’s 14 galleries and the McNutt Sculpture Garden.
Cowpoke games and crafts, where you can create your own cowboy hat and spurs, play horseshoes, make your own stick pony and try your hand at barrel racing. All arts and crafts are free and supplies are provided.
Cowboy music with The Barditch Hippies, playing live in the museum’s McNutt Sculpture Garden, where the fantastic bronze sculptures and lush, shady greenery are the perfect backdrop for cowboy fun.
Authentic chuck wagon cooking with free samples of peach cobbler, along with food truck grub and tasty barbeque available from Cake ‘n Que to satisfy any hungry cowpokes.
Lassos and fun with local rodeo cowboys and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and watch roper Cowboy Doug dazzle and delight with roping demonstrations.
Western art brought to life through live demonstrations:
Watch acclaimed, award-winning cowgirl artist Mary Ross Buchholz demonstrate illustration techniques using charcoal to create realistic imagery, sharing how to artfully capture Western scenes.
Enjoy a live sculpting demonstration by Jason Scull, one of the Cowboy Artists of America working to authentically preserve the culture of Western life through fine art.
See Texas cowboy artist Mike Capron showcase how he authentically portrays ranching and cowboy scenes.
Special appearances by Miss Rodeo Texas 2024, Ashlyn Williams, San Antonio River Walk Princess Annette Flores and Marina the Turtle, visiting to remind everyone “stuff the boat” to support this year’s Communities In Schools supply drive. Bring school supplies to National Day of the Cowboy and help Marina stuff the boat to benefit local children.
A display of escaramuza attire – what the talented women who participate in charreadas wear as they perform – and a local rider answering questions about what it’s like to be an escaramuza.
Storyteller Antoinette Lakey bringing the story of Mary Fields, the first African American woman stagecoach driver, to life. For many years, Fields traveled the West with her pet eagle, never losing a single horse or package. Hear her story as Lakey reads from “Fearless Mary: Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver.” A community leader, researcher, and dramatist, Antoinette Lakey currently serves as Artistic Director for Teatro Anansi, an organization with a mission to connect, celebrate and commemorate African American theatre, performing arts and history within the greater San Antonio community.
Cowboy poetry with poet Don Mathis, sharing his original poetry about the National Day of the Cowboy.
A look back at what it was like to be a trail rider and a black cowboy with a storyteller dressed in period attire, sharing about life in the West in 1875.
Nature’s beauty and resilience on display during the museum’s summer exhibition, Survival of the Fittest: Envisioning Wildlife and Wilderness with the Big Four, Masterworks from the Rijksmuseum Twenthe and the National Museum of Wildlife Art. The exhibition’s title references Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, which had a revolutionary impact on how people from Western cultures envisioned our relationship with the other animals on Earth. A special mini-drawing lab also offers step-by-step instructions to draw animals and landscapes.
Briscoe Western Art Museum: Preserving and presenting the art, history and culture of the American West through engaging exhibitions, educational programs and public events reflective of the region’s rich traditions and shared heritage, the Briscoe Western Art Museum is located on the San Antonio River Walk at 210 W. Market Street in the beautifully restored 1930s former San Antonio Public Library building. Named in honor of the late Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe Jr. and his wife, Janey Slaughter Briscoe, the museum includes the three-story Jack Guenther Pavilion, used for event rentals and programs, and the outdoor McNutt Sculpture Garden.
Briscoe’s Day of the Cowboy celebration will feature free admission, live music, cowboy games, food trucks, art, and more. Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.
Celebrating the legacy of the cowboy, cowgirl, and vaquero, the Briscoe Western Art Museum presents its National Day of the Cowboy celebration on Saturday, July 23, 10a.m. – 5p.m. at the museum’s campus on the banks of the River Walk. The free community event, which includes free admission to the museum and its exhibitions, features indoor and outdoor activities for cowpokes of all ages, with live music in the museum’s McNutt Sculpture Garden, a chuck wagon with tasty cowboy treats, artist demonstrations and hands-on arts, crafts and games for all ages to enjoy. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2022)
Cowboy Fun Under the Sun – And Throughout the Museum
One of the Briscoe’s most treasured annual events, National Day of the Cowboy works to highlight, share and preserve America’s cowboy culture and pioneer heritage. It was founded in 2005 as a day to celebrate and preserve the heritage of the American cowboy, cowgirl, and vaquero in the United States. The state of Texas declared it a day of honor in 2015 and the Briscoe annually hosts a celebration event, throwing open the doors of the museum to honor the cowboy, cowgirl, and vaquero in us all.
The celebration pairs perfectly with its fantastic summer exhibition The Sons of Charlie Russell: Cowboy Artists of America. Premiering at the Briscoe and including works from 17 public and private collections, The Sons of Charlie Russell features 70 works of art showcasing the forefathers of Western art and how their great works provide foundations, traditions and ideals for today’s contemporary artists. On display through September 5, the exhibition is the first and only time these works will be viewed together. While visitors may not be able to rope and ride alongside the cowboys and ranch hands often depicted in Western art, thanks to immersive technology in the exhibition, visitors are able to see themselves as shadow outlines in the paintings, striking poses as they add themselves to the scene.
Free admission and activities for the whole family, including scavenger hunts through the Briscoe. Museum volunteers will be on hand to share details about the museum’s art and artifacts, highlighting works that relate to lives and work of cowboys, cowgirls and vaqueros.
Cowpoke games and crafts, where you can outfit yer’self in a bolo tie and spurs, try your hand at silversmith etching, make a stick pony and try out some barrel racing, learn how to rope and ride, herd some balloon animals, do a little bull riding, toss horseshoes, craft a cowhand puppet, and more.
Demonstrations of how to craft the essential tools of the cowboy trade by members of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association of saddle making, braiding, and forging.
See the leather work and tooling that goes into making a saddle with saddle maker Troy West.
Learn the art of rawhide braiding from braider Leland Hensley.
Watch forger Wilson Capron shape metal into bits, spurs and more with a live forging demonstration in the Briscoe’s McNutt Sculpture Garden.
Western art brought to life through a live sculpting demonstration by Jason Scull, one of the Cowboy Artists featured in The Sons of Charlie Russell.
Lil Partners Reading Zone, offering up cowboy tales. Sit a spell and enjoy a book reading with Emily Wilson, the Briscoe’s Curator of Art. Wilson’s children’s book, “Charlie Russell and the Gnomes of Bull Head Lodge,” crafts a modern fairy tale based on the life of Charles M. Russell (1864–1926), the namesake of The Sons of Charlie Russell Stop by to learn the art of gnome-making so you can craft your own cowboy gnomes.
Storytime at the Stagecoach, featuring the story of Mary Fields, the first African American woman stagecoach driver. For many years, Fields traveled the West with her pet eagle, never losing a single horse or package. Hear her story as Antoinette Lakey reads from “Fearless Mary: Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver.” A community leader, researcher, and dramatist, Antoinette Lakey currently serves as Artistic Director for Teatro Anansi, an organization with a mission to connect, celebrate and commemorate African American theatre, performing arts and history within the greater San Antonio community.
Chuck wagon cooking with samples of peach cobbler and beans, along with food truck grub available to satisfy any hungry cowpokes.
Surrounded by the beauty of the garden’s fantastic bronze sculptures and lush greenery, kick back and soak in the sounds of West with live music throughout the day, including singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Clint Tomerlin.
Preserving and presenting the art, history and culture of the American West through engaging exhibitions, educational programs and public events reflective of the region’s rich traditions and shared heritage, the Briscoe Western Art Museum is located on the San Antonio River Walk at 210 W. Market Street in the beautifully restored 1930s former San Antonio Public Library building. Named in honor of the late Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe Jr. and his wife, Janey Slaughter Briscoe, the museum includes the three-story Jack Guenther Pavilion, used for event rentals and programs, and the outdoor McNutt Sculpture Garden.
Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.
Events at the Briscoe include artist demonstrations, paint-alongs, talks, movies, and family activities. Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.
Fathers, sons and tons of fun await everyone at the Briscoe Western Art Museum this summer. Featuring the fantastic summer exhibition The Sons of Charlie Russell: Cowboy Artists of America,the Briscoe is hosting an array of programming to allow everyone to step into the West from the heart of the River Walk. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2022)
Premiering at the Briscoe and including works from 17 public and private collections, The Sons of Charlie Russell features 70 works of art showcasing the forefathers of Western art and how their great works provide foundations, traditions and ideals for today’s contemporary artists. On display through September 5, the exhibition is the first and only time these works will be viewed together. To accompany the exhibition, the Briscoe is hosting a summer of programming that brings Western art to life through artist talks, demonstrations, and more.
The summer line-up includes:
Cowboy Creations: Learn from Cowboy Artists
Bringing the art of The Sons of Charlie Russell to life, members of the Cowboy Artists of America are appearing in a series of demonstrations and talks throughout the exhibition. Guests can enjoy meeting and watching these talented cowboy artists share the processes behind their work. All sessions are included in general museum admission.
Saturday June 25 – Mikel Donahue
Saturday August 6 – Chad Poppleton (Paint-along)
Saturday July 23, 10a.m. – 3p.m. – Jason Scull (Sculpture demonstration, part of the Briscoe’s National Day of the Cowboy Celebration)
Saturday August 27, 10a.m. – 11:30a.m. – Bruce Greene (part of The Lessons of Our Fathers Panel)
Saturday September 3, 11a.m. – 1p.m. – Teal Blake (Paint-along)
Saturday September 3, 11a.m. – 3p.m. – Jason Scull (Sculpture Demonstration)
STEAMing into the West with The Sons of Charlie Russell
Families and visitors of all ages are invited to learn about the American West through the works featured in The Sons of Charlie Russell during the museum’s “Full STEAM Ahead” series on the third Saturday of each month. From transportation and weather to animals, astronomy and engineering, each program explores an aspect of life in the West to engage and inspire learning. Full STEAM Ahead is included with museum general admission. Children 12 and under receive free admission to the Briscoe.
Saturday June 18, 11a.m. – 1p.m. – Full STEAM Ahead: Red Moon – Participants will learn about the lunar eclipse, and the significance the moon had on the people of the American West. Guests will also learn and practice perspective and contrast in creating art, exploring “Red Moon,” by CAA member Phil Epp and featured in The Sons of Charlie Russell. Children and families will paint their own fizzy moons using special combinations of baking soda and paint to create uniquely textured and colorful moons.
Saturday July 16, 11a.m. – 1p.m. – Full STEAM Ahead: All A-Gnome – Families will make their own gnomes inspired by the beloved children’s book “Charlie Russell and the Gnomes of Bullhead Lodge” by renowned author and Briscoe curator Emily Wilson. Wilson curated The Sons of Charlie Russell exhibition.
Saturday August 20, 11a.m. – 1p.m. – Full STEAM Ahead: Whimsical Windmills – While conservation and renewable energy efforts may seem like new solutions to the energy crisis, cowboys and settlers alike used renewable energy long before access to gas and electricity was ever invented. Guests will learn how windmills were some of our first sources of alternative energy.
What is a Western? Summer Film Series
The Briscoe’s popular Summer Film Series returns with a question: What is a Western? What are the elements of a Western and how has the Western been re-interpreted through the years? The first film in the series will explore the traditional components of Western cinema. A short presentation discussing the foundations of the Western will begin at 1p.m., followed immediately by the screening. Each film is included in general museum admission, with free brews courtesy of Ranger Creek Brewery. Popcorn, drinks and snacks will be available for purchase.
Sunday June 19, 1p.m. “The Searchers” – In the 1956 movie considered by many to be the greatest Western ever made, John Wayne stars as a post-Civil War veteran on a journey to find his niece after Comanche Native Americans kidnapped her. Its influence is reflected in the works of Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and other critical filmmakers.
Sunday July 10, 1p.m. “Dances With Wolves” – In his directorial debut and breakout role, Kevin Costner stars as a post-Civil War veteran who comes into contact with the Lakota while on assignment in South Dakota. The 1990 film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, winning seven, including Best Picture and Best Director, and received Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.
Sunday August 21, 1p.m. “Wind River” – In this tense neo-western thriller, Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen star as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife hunter and an FBI agent investigating a murder on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The 2017 film was “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan’s directorial debut.
Books and Brews: Briscoe Book Club
Thursday July 14, 6p.m. – Briscoe Book Club: “No Country for Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy
Weathered Souls Brewery, 606 Embassy Oaks #500, San Antonio, 78216
Join the Briscoe Book Club for a lively chat in a laid-back social gathering as we explore significant works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction inspired by the vast and varied experiences of the American West. We will discuss a new book each quarter. Books are available for purchase at the Museum Store, or you may reserve a copy for check out through the San Antonio Public Library system before each meeting. There is no charge to participate in the book club. Reserve your spot by registering online.
Free Cowboy Fun: National Day of the Cowboy Celebration
Tippin’ its hat and celebrating the legacy of the cowboy, cowgirl and vaquero, the Briscoe Western Art Museum presents its annual National Day of the Cowboy celebration on Saturday, July 23, 10a.m. – 4p.m. at the Briscoe. The free community event, which includes free admission to the museum and its exhibitions, features indoor and outdoor activities for cowpokes of all ages. This year’s celebration will feature The Sons of Charlie Russell, with artist demonstrations to include leatherworking, metalsmithing and more. Saddle up with your family and head west for a day you will not forget.
The Lessons of Our Fathers: Panel and Artist Presentation
With The Sons of Charlie Russell: Cowboy Artists of America, the Briscoe Western Art Museum casts a spotlight on the history and significance of the Cowboy Artists of America and its efforts to maintain and evolve the style and subject matter of traditional Western art. The museum is hosting a panel of Western art scholars to discuss the importance of preserving traditions and the necessity for tradition to evolve and undergo revision to remain relevant in a changing world. The panel will also examine the CAA’s success at executing its mission: to authentically preserve and perpetuate the culture of Western life through fine art. The panel will be moderated by Emily Wilson, Curator of Art for the Briscoe Western Art Museum and the curator of The Sons of Charlie Russell. The panel is Saturday, August 27, 2p.m – 4p.m.
Before the panel discussion at 10a.m. – 10:30a.m., CAA artist Bruce Greene, the 2022 President of the CAA, will do a presentation detailing his journaling techniques and how he uses his journal to help with the accuracy of his art Both the presentation and the panel are included in museum general admission.
210 West: Gallery Talks
Join the Briscoe for in-gallery chats featuring selected works from The Sons of Charlie Russell. Using the exhibition gallery guide, Curator of Art Emily Wilson will provide an overview of the tools and strategies used to evaluate narrative art. Guests will leave with a deeper appreciation of the artistic strategy, methods and design choices made by the artists. Gallery talks are included in general admission and start at 1p.m.
June 24, July 8, Aug. 12
The Sons of Charlie Russell: Cowboy Artists of America is supported in part by Jan McCaleb Elliott, the Eddie Basha Collection, Mr. and Mrs. Marrs McLean Bowman, The Elizabeth Huth Coates Charitable Foundation of 1992, the Klesse Foundation, Jessica Elliott Middleton, Debbie and John T. Montford, and Western Art Collector.
Admission to the Briscoe Western Art Museum is always free for children 12 and under and for active duty military members. The museum is proud to participate in Museums For All, Blue Star Museums and Bank of America Museums on Us. The Briscoe is located on the south end of the River Walk, near the Arneson River Theatre and La Villita, with convenient parking at the Riverbend Garage directly adjacent to the museum or one of many downtown surface lots. Museum hours, parking and admission details are available online.
National Day of the Cowboy celebration spans day and night on July 24. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
The Briscoe Western Art Museum presents the return of its National Day of the Cowboy celebration on Saturday, July 24, from 10a.m. to 2p.m. at the Briscoe. The free community event, which includes free admission to the museum and its exhibitions, features indoor and outdoor activities for cowpokes of all ages. And there is no riding off into the sunset when the daytime National Day of the Cowboy celebration concludes. The fun continues with the Briscoe’s “Sips and Sounds of the West” series at 6:30p.m. with live music in the museum’s McNutt Sculpture Garden. The ticketed event is a night of music, drinks, and tasty bites under the stars. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2021)
Cowboy Fun Under the Sun – And Throughout the Museum
One of the Briscoe’s most treasured annual events, National Day of the Cowboy is held on the fourth Saturday of July each year. After a pause in 2020, the celebration returns, inspired by the Briscoe’s blockbuster summer exhibition, Still in the Saddle: A New History of the Hollywood Western. The exhibition tells the dramatic story of the Hollywood Western from the late 1960s through the 1980s, recreating a 1960s-era theater experience that features more than 60 original movie posters, authentic lobby cards and costumes worn by John Wayne. Do not be surprised if The Duke himself is roaming the exhibit, ready to take pictures with adoring fans.
Free admission and activities for the whole family, including guided tours of the Briscoe. The tours, with bilingual options, will highlight artworks that relate to cowboys, cowgirls and vaqueros.
Cowpoke games and crafts, where you can outfit yourself in a cowboy vest and spurs, make a stick pony and try out some barrel racing, learn how to rope and brand cattle, herd some balloon animals, do a little bull riding, show off your gunslinging skills, and more.
Lil Partners Reading Zone, offering up cowboy tales in the museum’s San Antonio Public Library Kampann Library Portal. Sit a spell and enjoy a book reading with Emily Wilson, the Briscoe’s Curator of Art. Wilson’s recently published children’s book, “Charlie Russell and the Gnomes of Bull Head Lodge,” crafts a modern fairy tale based on the life of one of the fathers of Western art, Charles M. Russell (1864–1926), and his many letters. Stop by to learn the art of gnome-making so you can craft your own cowboy gnomes.
Bruce Morgan, a stuntman who played a role in making scenes memorable in Hollywood Westerns in the 1970s, shares behind-the-scenes stories about movie stunts.
Dairy Farm Demo, with a traveling milking parlor featuring a live cow for all to learn how to milk, with a hands-on practice station with milking balloons.
Chuck wagon cooking with samples of peach cobbler and beans, along with food truck grub available to satisfy any hungry cowpokes.
The fun continues after the sun sets with the Briscoe Western Art Museum’s Sips and Sounds of the West series at 6:30p.m. in the museum’s McNutt Sculpture Garden. With live music from singer/songwriter Marcy Grace and band, drinks and tasty bites under the stars, enjoy a night out celebrating all things cowboy. Surrounded by the beauty of the garden’s fantastic bronze sculptures and lush greenery, kick back and soak in the sounds of West with music, drinks, and food until 9:30p.m.
Named 2019 Solo Artist of the Year by “Formo” Magazine, Grace was nominated by the 2021 Texas Radio Music Awards for Best New Female Artist and has had three Top 40 singles on the Texas Regional Radio Chart. Her song “Margarita Man” is featured in the film “The Margarita Man” starring Danny Trejo and San Antonio’s own Jesse Borrego. Sips and Sounds of the West tickets are available online and are $15 for members, $25 for non-members and each ticket includes two complimentary beer tickets.
The National Day of the Cowboy was designated in 2005 as a day to celebrate and preserve the heritage of the American cowboy, cowgirl and vaquero in the United States. The state of Texas declared it a day of honor in 2015 and the Briscoe annually hosts a celebration event, throwing open the doors of the museum to honor the cowboy, cowgirl and vaquero in us all.
From its McNutt Sculpture Garden to the museum’s beautifully restored historic home inside the former San Antonio Public Library building, the Briscoe’s collection spans 14 galleries, with special exhibitions, events and a fantastic Museum Store, providing art, culture, history and entertainment. Museum hours, parking and admission details are available online. Per the latest CDC guidelines, vaccinated guests are welcome to enjoy the museum and Jack Guenther Pavilion without a mask. The Briscoe respectfully requests all non-vaccinated guests wear face coverings.
Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.
Lassoing a good time at the Briscoe Western Art Museum’s annual National Day of the Cowboy celebration is taking a pause this year due to COVID-19. Rather than have cowboys and cowgirls crowd the museum’s grounds to celebrate all things cowboy, the Briscoe invites everyone to “Bring Home the Briscoe” throughout the month of July. Part of the museum’s popular Lil Partners children’s programming, “Bring Home the Briscoe” features four weeks of Western Art activities and hands-on art, letting little cowboys and cowgirls immerse themselves in fun. The museum has also created a new program, “Briscoe Buddies,” to share the kits with nonprofit children’s organizations across San Antonio. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2020)
Cowboy Fun and More
One of the Briscoe’s most treasured annual events, National Day of the Cowboy, is celebrated on the fourth Saturday of July each year. It traditionally attracts Western fans for a day filled with fun, music and art throughout the museum’s home on the River Walk. With continued safety concerns surrounding social gatherings, the Briscoe decided to create something that celebrates not only cowboys, but all four pillars of Western Art: wildlife, Native American heritage, Spanish and Mexican heritage and of course, cowboys.
Bring Home the Briscoe: Summer Fun with a Western Twist
With the Bring Home the Briscoe kits, families can saddle up for arts and crafts, western storytelling and cowpoke games. Choose one theme or go for all four since each kit offers a different excursion through the West. The kits are recommended for children ages 5-10 years old. To purchase a kit, visit the Museum Store, order online or call the Museum Store (210.507.4852) to arrange for contact-less, “river side” pickup outside of the Briscoe. Each take home kit is $20 for members or $25 for nonmembers. Kits are available throughout the month of July.
Briscoe Buddies
The Briscoe traditionally hosts field trips and museum visits for children’s groups throughout the year. To give children the chance to experience the West outside of the museum, the new “Briscoe Buddies” program provides free activity kits to local children’s organizations. Distribution is scheduled throughout July with several community partners including Boys & Girls Club, Haven for Hope, St. PJ’s Children’s Home and Mission Road. To support the Briscoe Buddies effort and give these Lil Partners the chance to “Bring Home the Briscoe,” donations are being accepted and can be made in person at the Museum Store or online.
Briscoe Membership Takes You West All Year Long
If you are ready to dust off your saddle and travel West, there is no need to travel far. Buy a Briscoe membership to see the beauty and spirit of the West in the heart of downtown San Antonio. The Briscoe offers membership packages that include unlimited admission to the museum and through the month of July, every membership includes one free “Bring Home the Briscoe” activity kit. Memberships may be purchased online with contact-less curbside gift pickup from the Briscoe’s Museum Store.
Family membership includes museum admission for two adults and all children/grandchildren under 18, making it great for family fun all year long. Members receive unlimited admission to the Briscoe and free or discounted admission to its events, as well as invitations to private members-only events. Full membership benefits are detailed online. Memberships are instrumental support that help the Briscoe continue to share the art, history and culture of the American West and are tax deductible.
See the West Indoors and Out at the Briscoe
The McNutt Sculpture Garden and the museum grounds feature 30 sculptures portraying various aspects of Western life, giving everyone the opportunity to get out and enjoy the West. Inside the museum’s beautifully restored historic home inside the former San Antonio Public Library building, galleries, exhibitions, monthly talks, exclusive member events and a fantastic museum shop provide art, culture, history and entertainment year-round, but especially now thanks to the 2020 Night of Artists Exhibition and Art Sale.
Night of Artists draws artists, collectors and art enthusiasts from around the country each year to celebrate Western art. The museum’s largest annual exhibition features more than 300 new works of painting, sculpture and mixed media by 80 of the country’s leading contemporary Western artists on display through July 26.
Museum hours are 10a.m. to 5p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 10a.m. to 3p.m. on Sunday. The museum is located on the River Walk, with convenient parking at the Riverbend Garage directly adjacent to the museum or one of many downtown surface lots. Now through August, parking is free at city-owned garages, pay-stations and meters all day Saturday and Sunday and 4p.m. to 2a.m. Monday through Friday. Museum hours and admission details are available online.
“Celebrating cowboys and all of the traditions and spirit of the West is something we do every day at the Briscoe. With our spacious galleries and outdoor sculpture garden, everyone can safely visit the museum. Adding to the museum experience, ‘Bring Home the Briscoe’ includes summer fun that families can explore at home, while our new ‘Briscoe Buddies’ program brings the Briscoe to children’s groups who can’t enjoy field trips to the museum right now.” – Michael Duchemin, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Briscoe Western Art Museum
SA Examiner 