Gilcrease Museum
Tulsa
Surrounded by lovely gardens on a hillside northwest of downtown, the Gilcrease Museum is known for one of the world’s finest collections of Western American art. Self-made oilman Thomas Gilcrease began amassing his fortune and, simultaneously, purchasing art before founding the museum in 1949. Today, the collection includes more than 13,000 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures from colonial times to the present.
“Our museum is known for its collection of Western American art, including 18 out of 22 Remington bronze sculptures and one of the largest collections of Thomas Moran and Charles M. Russell’s works,” said communications manager Melani Hamilton. “We also have one of the few remaining handwritten copies of the Declaration of Independence, with a facsimile on display, as well as a large anthropology collection that tells the story of the Americas.”
The museum’s historic themed gardens reflect horticultural styles and techniques from the American West. Gilcrease encouraged the growth of native plants and introduced numerous exotic specimens to the area, among them the Southern magnolia. Guided tours highlight their relationship to the museum’s collection with garden themes such as pre-Columbian, pioneer, Colonial and Victorian.
Art lovers will want to spend time in the museum store. It features Native American and contemporary art, plus iconic local artists. Fine turquoise jewelry, pottery, glass sculpture and basket work are available, as well as coffee table books related to the collection.
National Cowboy Western and Heritage Museum
Oklahoma City
The National Cowboy Western and Heritage Museum has a wide-ranging collection, from fine art to firearms and Native American objects to historic Western gear. The exhibition wing houses a late-19th- and early-20th-century town, and interactive galleries focus on the American cowboy, rodeos, Native American culture, Victorian firearms, and frontier military and Western performers.
“Groups can schedule a themed tour of specific galleries, such as the rodeo and the American cowboy, or Native American art and contemporary Western art,” said curator of cowboy culture Don Reeves. “I’ve often heard it said that the typical visit takes between four to five hours, so there’s much to pick and choose from at the museum.”
On the grounds among the trees, ponds, and running streams, larger-than-life sculptures honor the American West. “Welcome Sundown” greets groups at the entrance, “Buffalo Bill” perches high atop Persimmon Hill, and “Ring of Bright Water” nestles in a grove of trees in Hambrick Garden.
Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art
Shawnee
Best known for Egyptian artifacts, the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art on St. Gregory’s University campus is one of Oklahoma’s oldest museums. Its Egyptian collection is considered one of the best between Chicago and Los Angeles and contains the state’s only mummies.
“This spring, we finished renovating our classical antiquities gallery and have now put a second Roman-era mummy on display, along with several Egyptian bronzes,” said director and chief curator Dane Pollei. “We’ve also added an interactive touch-pad display that educates people on the mummification process and provides interesting facts relating to the mummies.”
Father Gregory Gerrer, for whom the museum is named, was a Benedictine monk who collected artistic and ethnological artwork in Europe, Africa and South America. Unusual for the early 1900s, the monks used art to educate their students about the outside world.
