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Monday 8am - 6pm Tuesday 8am - 6pm Wednesday 8am - 6pm Thursday 8am - 6pm Friday 8am - 6pm Saturday 8am - 6pm Sunday 8am - 6pm

Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West

Name: Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West
Address: 720 Sheridan Avenue, Cody, WY, 82414, US
Telephone: (307) 587-4771
Price range: $$

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Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West

The Whitney Western Art Museum is part of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming.

The Whitney Western Art Museum showcases top Western art, featuring works by masters like Remington, Russell, Moran, and Bierstadt, alongside contemporary artists. Located just fifty miles from Yellowstone’s East Gate, the Center’s seven-acre complex houses five museums and a research library, all under one roof and devoted to telling the authentic story of the American West.

04/17/2026

The curators at the Center of the West have been busy and we have another new exhibition! “Arms of Revolution” is now open in the Cody Fi****ms Museum (CFM)!

Curated by our CFM colleagues in recognition of the United States’s 250th anniversary, “Arms of the Revolution” brings visitors face to face with the actual fi****ms and projectiles carried on Revolutionary battlefields. Drawing from the museum’s own holdings and rare loans from Fort Ticonderoga, Minuteman National Historic Site, and leading private collections, the exhibition explores the weapons of both Patriot and Loyalist forces. Immersive interpretive elements reveal how these tools functioned and why they mattered. At this historic milestone, Arms of the Revolution invites visitors to reflect on sacrifice, conflict, and the enduring ideals that gave rise to the United States.

Make sure to check out this great new exhibition! And congratulations to our CFM colleagues!

Learn more here: https://centerofthewest.org/arms-of-the-revolution/.

04/12/2026

Seems like Winston enjoys spending time with a good painting just as much as we do! 😁🦥

04/11/2026

We're all ready for Slow Art Day! Come join the Whitney curators in the gallery today from 12pm to 2pm for a little slow looking. Look for the sloth labels and the stools! Or, spend some extra time with whatever artwork catches your eye.

And remember, ZooMontana members get free admission to the Center of the West when they show their membership card!

We hope to see you soon!

04/10/2026

Our colleagues at the Center of the West’s Plains Indian Museum have been hard at work on a new exhibition that opens tomorrow, Saturday, April 11!

Step into the world of contemporary Native American rodeo with “Riders of the Buffalo Nations,” a breathtaking photography exhibition by Amsterdam-based artist Doug Hancock. Against the sweeping landscapes of the Black Hills and Montana’s rolling hills, Hancock captures the skill, courage, and spirit of today’s Native cowboys and cowgirls.

Honoring the legacy of the Buffalo Riders—Native horsemen whose traditions reach back to the buffalo hunts—the exhibition explores three themes: identity, rodeo, and community. Visitors will encounter powerful portraits, action scenes, projected film clips, and hands-on displays that bring this living tradition to life.

Featuring 39 photographs, including three large-scale murals, “Riders of the Buffalo Nations” offers a vivid look at the enduring role of Native peoples in rodeo, horsemanship, and cultural celebration.

The exhibition will be on display in the Center of the West’s John Bunker Sands Gallery. Please make sure to check this great new exhibition! And congratulations to our PIM colleagues!

And Saturday is also Slow Art Day! So come join us for a great new exhibition and a little slow looking. We hope to see you there!

Learn more about "Riders of the Buffalo Nations" here: https://centerofthewest.org/riders-of-the-buffalo-nation/.

04/09/2026

This Saturday, April 11, is Slow Art Day! It’s an annual event that focuses on “slow looking and its transformative power”. Museums around the world participate by inviting their visitors to slow down and look closely.

And we invite you to join us this Saturday for a little slow looking! Our Whitney curators will be in the gallery from 12pm to 2pm for questions and discussion.

We’ve also teamed up with ZooMontana to celebrate Slow Art Day. ZooMontana members can enjoy free admission to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West on Saturday, April 11 (must present your valid membership card).

You can learn a lot about yourself by spending time with art! You bring your own experiences, emotions, preferences, and interests to any artwork you see, and it affects how you respond. So come and join us on Saturday for a little slow looking to see what you might learn!

Learn more here!: https://centerofthewest.org/event/slow-art-day/

04/03/2026

We were very saddened to hear of the passing of artist Charles Ringer. An imaginative artist, Ringer was known for his abstract metal sculptures made from copper, brass, stainless steel, or found objects. These sculptures are often kinetic, combining movement and metal to depict animals, animal-people relationships, geometric designs, and social stereotypes.

His fascination with metal and movement began at a young age. He explained, “For as long as I can remember I have been intrigued by the physics of life around me. As a child in Minnesota, I began to arrange and assemble various objects into three dimensional creations. This process enabled me to translate my mental observations into physical reality. ... I was attracted to metal...because of its many contrasts. The medium itself is originally coarse, heavy, hard, utilitarian and unforgiving. During the creative process, the material is cut, heated, pounded, welded and polished. The end product becomes a durable work of art. My sculpture involves both a kinetic and static presence, portraying both complex and whimsical images, creating a visual attractant.”

For Ringer, art was more than the physical sculptures he created. Life was art. He frequently said, “My art is my lifestyle, everything else is a byproduct.”

Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family and all who counted him as a friend and mentor.

Artworks:

Charles Ringer (American, 1948 – 2026), “Prickly Pear,” 2004. Steel. Gift of Howard and Lili Ann Camden. 5.05

“Hunting Around,” 1993. Painted steel. Gift of Howard and Lili Ann Camden. 4.93

“Centennial,” 1990. Painted steel. Gift of Howard and Lili Ann Camden. 16.91

03/20/2026

We may have skipped right over spring with our summertime temperatures in Cody this week (who doesn’t love a little 70-degree weather in March?), but we still wanted to wish everyone a happy first day of spring!

If you come visit today, you’ll see sunny blue skies just like this 1932 painting of one of our local landmarks, Heart Mountain!

Artwork:

Frank Tenney Johnson (American, 1874 – 1939), “Hart Mountain Wyo, Sept 10, 1932,” 1932. Oil on board. Gift of Anne Young. 5.24

03/08/2026

Happy ! International Women’s Day is an annual global holiday that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women!

To celebrate, we’re sharing the story of Fannie Sperry Steele (1887 – 1983), a World Champion Bronc rider and the first woman inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame!

Born and raised in Montana, Fannie learned how ride by the time she could walk. Her mother was an avid horsewoman, and Fannie inherited her mother’s love of horses. Horses were a central part of Fannie’s life, and she once declared “If there are no horses in heaven, I do not want to go there.” She grew up rounding up and breaking wild horses and participating in competitions with her fellow ranch kids.

Her first professional rodeo competition was as a relay race in 1904, and in 1907, she began participating in bucking horse competitions. Fannie won the “Lady Bucking Horse Champion of the World” title at the Calgary Stampede in 1912 after a ride on the wild horse Red Wing, who had trampled a rider to death only days earlier.

At a time when many women competitors rode with hobbled stirrups (meaning the stirrups were tied under the horse), Fannie rode “slick” (with the stirrups free), like male competitors. She became known for her skill and riding ability. Even after retiring from bronc riding competitions in 1925, Fannie continued riding exhibition broncs until she was 50.

In 1975, Fannie became the first woman inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Inductions into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame followed in 1978 and 2009.

“To the yesterdays that are gone, to the cowboys I used to know, to the bronc busters that rode beside me, to the horses beneath me (sometimes) I take off my hat. I wouldn’t have missed one minute of it.”
‒ Fannie Sperry Steele

Artwork:

Buckeye Blake (American, b. 1946), “Fannie Sperry Steele,” 1985. Bronze. Museum Purchase from William E. Weiss Memorial Fund, in honor of Ernest J. Goppert, Jr. 2.14

03/06/2026

Want to check out the Whitney and the other museums at the Center of the West from the comfort of your own home? All you have to do is download the Bloomberg Connects app! Our Whitney Western Art Museum digital guide offers access from anywhere in the world to our top notch art collection and special exhibitions through the app.

You’ll also find audio and video content from artists, curators, and special guests for in-depth explorations of artworks. Accessibility features include descriptive text for screen readers.

Check it out! And then come and visit us in person!

01/23/2026

Winter temperatures have finally come to Cody! It’s a balmy 4 degrees, feels like -5 degrees, here currently. If you need a place to warm up this weekend, come to the Center of the West and enjoy our final days of the special exhibition POP! Goes the West! Sunday, January 25 is your last day to explore the compelling intersections between popular culture and the American West.

The eye-catching artwork with bright colors and bold designs in POP! will be sure to warm and energize you during this cold weather! Artists depict a West that is both familiar and unexpected, filled with Indians and cowgirls, wildlife and highways, horses and pickup trucks, cell phones and tourists, along with lariats, guns, geysers, and more. By poking at stereotypes and weaving personal stories into histories, Pop artists reveal more complex–and realistic depictions–of the Old and New West.

We hope to see you this weekend as we get ready to say goodbye to POP! Goes the West!

https://centerofthewest.org/exhibition-pop-goes-the-west/

Photography: Bird (Apsáalooke)

Address

720 Sheridan Avenue
Cody, WY
82414

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 6pm
Tuesday	8am - 6pm
Wednesday	8am - 6pm
Thursday	8am - 6pm
Friday	8am - 6pm
Saturday	8am - 6pm
Sunday	8am - 6pm

Telephone

(307) 587-4771

Website

http://CENTEROFTHEWEST.ORG/

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