Confluence of Cultures in the American West: A Selection of Contemporary Artists

Confluence of Cultures in the American West: A Selection of Contemporary Artists

(January 15, 2015 – January 13, 2019)

The stories of friendship, tension, and conflict that arose during cultural contact in the history of the American West are explored through artwork that depicts mountain men, Native Americans, buffalo, cavalry, and settlers. The exhibition included especially commissioned and never-before-seen paintings by artists Andrew Bolam and John Moyers, as well as contemporary bronzes by Greg Woodard and Michael Coleman.

Many Western artists have been attracted to this period of American history because of its confluence of diverse cultures. This exhibition explored how contemporary artists have illustrated the lives, friendships, and clashes between cultures as they interacted with one another, and the various ways peoples’ lives were forever changed by these experiences.

Martin Grelle, Trappers in the Wind River, oil on canvas;
Courtesy the Peterson Family Collection.

John Moyers, Caught Between Two Worlds, oil on canvas;
Courtesy the Peterson Family Collection