The Booth Western Art Museum

The Booth Western Art Museum is located approximately in the middle of nowhere.  Cartersville, Georgia, to be exact.  Perhaps it was my low expectations (not a big Western fan) that amplified my delight at this new, modern, Smithsonian-quality museum.  The building itself was modern and white, much like Atlanta's High Museum.  Inside, the atrium soared with light - unlike the dingy, dark paneled walls of my imagination.

Our informative tour guide walked us through the many rooms - a free tour that I would recommend if you plan a visit.

Arielle, the artist, took pictures of everything.

The tour took us through American history from early Western settlers, 

The Civil War, Western Films and the American Presidents. 

Look at this amazing life-size painting of all the 20th century presidents.  Each president was carefully studied and portrayed with specific mannerisms.  Can you name them all?  Beyond the wall was The Presidents' room which contained handwriting samples from each president as well as interesting facts not commonly known.

The contemporary wing contained modern Western Art, like this steel horse.....

..... and this horse made of metal scraps.

This detailed collage was made only of paper.  My husband said that it was probably made by someone who used to spend their time making cupcakes, but then decided that this would be less time consuming!

The great thing about photography, is that if you are patient, 

you can pretend that you were the only ones in the museum!

Of course, that wasn't true.  

The original Rooster Cogburn, a.k.a John Wayne, was there, too!