Blog

  WS: Can you tell us something about your upbringing and interest in the American West? Casey: I grew up in South Dakota—not the West, exactly—but we lived between two Indian Reservations, the Lower Brule and Crow Creek. My family owned drugstores there and we...

There's a new sheriff in town! Please join us in celebrating the appointment of highly experienced local business and community leader Todd Bankofier as Western Spirit's new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director. David Sherf, Interim Executive...

WS: History is heritage for you. Can you tell us a bit about that?   Rock: In 1840, my great-great-great grandfather William came by covered wagon from New Jersey to the Quad Cities—where I was born and grew up. William’s cousin, James Marshall, kept going all the way...

WS: Can you tell us a bit about your background? Corazzi: I began my professional career, in Eastern Pennsylvania, as a French teacher. After 7 years, I became a high school principal and for my last 16 years in public education,  I was school superintendent. In 2000,...

Natalie Reichert is Western Spirit’s Bruner Scholar for Spring 2023. We caught up with Natalie to ask her about her experience as a Bruner Scholar and her work in Visitor Services. WS: How did you become a Bruner Scholar? Reichert: After I was hired to work in Visitor...

Dr. Scott Robertson came to Scottsdale forty years ago, having been recruited to build a cardiovascular center. He’s been here ever since. The West, you might say, was always near and dear to his heart, as were horses. We caught up with him recently to ask him about...

Occasionally, unpublished Curtis photographs surface, but never in history has 100 emerged at once! What few unpublished pictures have surfaced are generally in private collections, and no one ever gets to see them. When Edward Curtis’ only grandchild, Jim Graybill,...

If you’ve visited Western Spirit lately, or plan to visit soon, you may well see an artist, hard at work in the lobby, painting a life-size fiberglass model of a stallion. The energy of creation is electric, setting the stage for visitors to enter into the artistry of...

Dr. Betsy Fahlman is a professor of art history at Arizona State University, where she has taught since 1988. A specialist in American Art, her interests include public art, American modernism, the New Deal, industrial archeology, and the art history of Arizona. Since...