1930 1st Edition, Lone Cowboy by Will James

This exhibition pays tribute to the memory of Brian Winter, past president of the Will James Society. The Western Folklife Center is proud to be a part of the 18th annual gathering of the Will James Society, taking place in Elko, September 30 - October 4, 2010. Selected items in the exhibition will be available for purchase.

READ MORE about the exhibition and art sales.

Photo by Daniel M. Olson

The ranch gate is one of the most recognizable cultural artifacts of Americana, representing the people and landscapes, history and folklore of the American West. As ranches are consolidated and ranching becomes industrialized, the number of ranches is dwindling and the handcrafted gate is becoming a thing of the past. Across the west, the ruins of derelict gates are the landscape equivalent of ghost towns, signs of once thriving places, now abandoned and left to the elements. Ranch Gates of the Southwest is a traveling exhibition produced by Texas Folklife Resources, with photographs by University of Texas design professor, Daniel Olsen and designer Henk Van Assen.  The exhibition is based on their book, Ranch Gates of the Southwest: Manifestations of Individualism published in 2009 by Trinity University Press.

The exhibit invites viewers to explore the resonant visual language and multiple meanings of these American icons. Like a cowboy’s ornate belt buckle, the gate signifies membership in a unique fraternity, and frames the entry into a ranch with a theatrical and ceremonial air. In a desolate, treeless landscape they are signs of human occupancy, a point of transition between the public domain of the road and the private, expansive grazing ground that supports the ranching way of life. Dwarfed by the immensity of the landscapes they inhabit, ranch gates are local monuments to the grand space of the American West.

Ranch Gates of the Southwest: Manifestations of Individualism was organized by Texas Folklife with support from the University of Texas at Austin, Design Division, Department of Art & Art History, and the College of Fine Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art, and a grant from the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division.

Where the Cowboy Once Roamed, the photography of Deon Reynolds

Where the Cowboy Once Roamed is an exhibition featuring black and white panoramic images created by Nevada-based photographer Deon Reynolds.  All images were created using a Kodak Fun Saver Panoramic 35 disposable camera and will be available for purchase.

About Deon Reynolds: "My life in photography began at age 7 when I noticed my older brother taking photos with my dad's camera and asked if I could take some too. Dad loaded his Hasselblad, showed me how to trip the shutter and sent me outside. When i finished the roll of film I asked him to load it again, but he wouldn't. Instead, he told me if I wanted to be a photographer I'd  have to build my own camera and process my own film. So, he helped me make a pinhole camera out of Kodak film boxes, and took me to his darkroom and showed me how to develop the pictures I took. I've been taking them ever since. I was educated in Portland at the Museum of Art, and apprenticed with several renowned artists and photographers." Visit www.deonreynolds.com for more information. 

In addition, interactive displays produced by the Western Folklife Center will be continue to be featured including our popular Deep West Videos installation, Cowboy Music Jukebox and Cowboy Poetry Listening Station.