Booth Museum Celebrates the African American Experience in the West

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The largest exhibition of Western art by black artists ever assembled opens December 20 at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. "The Black West: Buffalo Soldiers, Black Cowboys and Untold Stories" features 65 works of art by 16 contemporary African American artists. Visitors to the museum can view the exhibition through March 22, 2009.

"The Black West" is an important and groundbreaking exhibition because it tells the often overlooked story of blacks in the West through the art of contemporary African American artists. In addition to the stories of black cowboys and buffalo soldiers, the art chosen for the exhibition focuses on the complete African American experience in the West, encompassing black explorers, lawmen, rodeo stars, outlaws, and women. The exhibition is co-curated by Booth Museum Executive Director, Seth Hopkins, and "Cowboy Mike" Searles, professor of history at Augusta State University.

Artists in the exhibition include: Gil Ashby (Michigan), Thomas Blackshear (Colorado), Alexander Bostic (Virginia), Eddie Dixon (Texas), Ed Dwight (Colorado), Michael Godfrey (Maryland) , Ed Hamilton (Kentucky), Dean Mitchell (Florida), Bob Snead (Texas), Ivan Stewart (Michigan), Ezra Tucker (Colorado), Bobb Vann (Arizona), Ernest Varner (Georgia), Steven Walker (Ohio), Burl Washington (Texas), and Bernard Williams (Illinois).

Throughout the run of the exhibition, the museum will offer programming on related topics including lectures by artists, writers, and historians as well as dramatic historical performances. Visit www.boothmuseum.org for a complete schedule.

In addition to the fine art on display in the "The Black West," the Booth Museum's Reel West Gallery will feature "Bronze Buckaroos: Mythic Images of the Black West." Featuring 25 vintage movie posters from the Booth Museum collection and the Ron Finley Midnight Matinee Poster Collection, this exhibition explores Hollywood's portrayals of the African American experience in the West. The museum will screen several of the movies advertised in the posters during the run of the exhibition.

For more information on the "The Black West: Buffalo Soldiers, Black Cowboys, and Untold Stories," call the Booth Museum at 770-387-1300 or visit www.boothmuseum.org.

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Arts Across Georgia

Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line II Opens at the Booth Museum

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Booth Western Art Museum announces the opening of Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line II. The exhibition contains 74 works of art from 37 locations across six Southern states, and showcases seldom seen Western Art from private collections, museums, and galleries. Guests will be able to view the artwork through November 30, 2008.

Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line II, or "Sweet Tea II" as it is known among the Booth Museum staff, allows visitors to experience art that will transport them to the most beautiful locations in the west to witness both the joys and hardships of life in the West. Works included in the exhibition span a 150 year period beginning with historic works by Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran and ending with contemporary artists Howard Terpning, Ken Riley, Alyce Frank, and many others. Among the artistic treasures, many of which have never been exhibited to the public, are a watercolor by famed Western artist Charles M. Russell, oils by Taos artist E. I. Couse, and landscapes by artists such as Edward Potthast, Thomas Hill, and William Kieth.

"Sweet Tea II" is the second installment of a triennial exhibition series, building on the success of the first "Sweet Tea" in 2005. The current exhibition was co-curated by Booth Executive Director Seth Hopkins and Curator Jeff Donaldson, working with a wide range of private collectors and museum staff members around the Southeast.

The exhibition title, Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line II, loosely defines the geographic area which is home to these amazing works of art. The "Sweet Tea Line" is the line below which sweet tea is found in abundance while above it sweet tea lovers are left trying to dissolve sweetener in cold tea.

The Booth Western Art Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday until 5:00 p.m. with extended hours on Thursday evenings. Museum admission includes Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line II. For more information on the Booth Western Art Museum call +1-770-387-1300 or visit www.boothmuseum.org.

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