Booth Western Art Museum

Yesterday we also went to the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA.  I had heard about this museum several times, but never really thought about going.  However, my Dad really wanted to go and it was somewhat close to New Echota.  So, we went.  I was thoroughly amazed at how wonderful this museum is and highly recommend it.

The subject matter is much more interesting than most art museums.  There was lots of sculptures and paintings.  One recurring theme was buffalo.  Here's Catherine looking at a painting:

The girls found this pretend museum guard silly:

 Here was a life-size sculpture of a cowboy:

 This museum is huge, almost as big as the High Museum.  But much more interesting.

They had a room full of movie posters (some were as big as billboards), as well as statues of John Wayne.

 Here is a painting by Andy Warhol:

 A horse stampede made out of crystal:

 This is a fiberglass pony painted with pictures of cows all over it:

 Sabrina loved this statue, which was what she called "a really skinny cowboy:"

They had several intricate sculptures made of paper.  I had never seen this before.  Some were much larger and more impressive than this one, but this one of an Indian mother and girl was easier to photograph than the others:

 They had several stagecoaches on display:

I have no idea how this falls under the umbrella of "Western art," but they have an entire wing of the museum devoted to the American presidents.  Here is a huge mural of every twentieth century president, from McKinley through Clinton.

In the president's hall, they had a painting or photograph of every president and a letter written by each one:

Catherine sitting next to Thomas Jefferson as he is drafting the Declaration of Independence:

In the basement of the museum, they have one of the best children's sections I have ever seen.  Here is what my girls' called "the ride."  Basically, it was a stagecoach which rocked:

It seriously rocked back and forth:

 Catherine playing checkers:

 Sabrina sitting atop a horse:

 Ringing the dinner bell (or triangle) at the chuck wagon:

 Sabrina trying to assemble a puzzle sculpture of a guitar:

  Sabrina sitting next to a piece of pottery after she decorated it was black magnetic pieces:

 Catherine trying out weaving:

Every ten minutes or so one of the girls would scream out "dinner time" and they would run to the chuck wagon and pretend to make dinner.  It was a Thursday afternoon and, other than one elderly couple, we did not see anyone else in the museum.  That was great, because my girls were noisy and wiggly.

It is kind of hard to tell but this is a painting of some Indians playing cards to divvy up a cowboy's belongings:

 The girls were tired in the morning, but by late afternoon they had regained some energy:

 We broke up the art portion with separate trips to the kids' section.  Sabrina dressed up like a cow:

 Cooking at the chuck wagon again:

 That is a big pot of soup:

This is a great museum to visit.  It has a fabulous kids section and the art itself is far more interesting to children than what is typically found in art museums.  Children 12 and under were free and they charged $10 for me.  You should go!