Through February 13, 2022 | Boise Art Museum | Boise, ID

The West in Many Ways

A diversity of perspectives are celebrated in a traveling exhibition arriving at the Boise Art Museum.

A traveling exhibition currently on view at the Boise Art Museum, Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea, looks at unique and important works of art through the eyes of 48 contemporary artists who offer a broader and more inclusive view of the region. Developed in collaboration with the Boise Art Museum in Idaho, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C., the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Oregon, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Utah and the Whatcom Museum in Washington, the exhibition challenges typical ideas of the American West as well as commonly accepted historical narratives that are “often based on a past that never was, and fail to take into account important events that actually occurred.”George Tsutakawa (1910-1997), North Cascades, sumi ink on rice paper, 20 x 24¾”. Whatcom Museum Permanent Collection, Gift of the Washington Art Consortium through gift of Safeco Insurance, a member of the Liberty Mutual Group, 2017.16.36.

Ka’ila Farrell-Smith, Enrollment, 2014, oil on canvas, 72 x 36”. Collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon. General Acquisition Fund purchase made possible with support from Native American Studies, University of Oregon.“It is meant to tell the stories of those previously misrepresented or marginalized by the American history of this iconic region,” says Melanie Fales, executive director of the Boise Art Museum. “The exhibition confronts misconceptions, questions racist stereotypes and highlights multiple communities and histories. Through a carefully curated process, in which each of the five art museums participated, the exhibition offers clear perspectives and histories that may be unknown to some and unnoticed by others, focusing on artwork created by artists who are Black, white, women, men, LGBTQ+, Native American, Asian American and Latinx,” says Fales. Angela Ellsworth, Seer Bonnet XI and XII, 2010, pearl corsage pins, fabric, and steel, 53½ x 11¼ x 16½” (each). Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Purchased with funds from the UMFA Young Benefactors and the Phyllis Cannon Wattis Endowment for Modern and Contemporary Art, UMFA2010.16.1-2.

The project is unique, she adds, because it includes selections from the collections of all participating museums, and thrives through collaborative strength in its endeavour to share a diversity of perspectives. Among the many esteemed artists featured in the show are George Tsutakawa, Marie Watt, Melanie Yazzie, Christina Fernandez, Laura Aguilar, Hung Liu, Neal Ambrose-Smith, Jacob Lawrence, Fritz Scholder and others. Wendy Red Star, Four Seasons series: Summer, 2006, archival pigment print, ed. 27, 23 x 26”. Boise Art Museum Permanent Collection, Collectors Forum Purchase, 2019.

And the timing of the exhibition is particularly important as well. “[It] coincides with what is happening in the world today. Artists have long surfaced societal realities and injustices of our times, and art museums have been leaders in showing diversity and sharing the voices of a wide range of artists’ perspectives,” says Fales. “This exhibition makes a very strong statement that there is not one perspective—that there are many perspectives and they all come together to shape the West.”

Many Wests concludes its run at the Boise Art Museum on February 13, 2022, then moves on to to the Whatcom Museum from March 19 to August 21, 2022. The final stop at the Smithsonian Museum sees the exhibition all the way through January 14, 2024. —

Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea
Through February 13, 2022
Boise Art Museum, 670 Julia Davis Drive, Boise, ID 83702
(208) 345-8330, www.boiseartmuseum.org