Autry National Center
Encyclopedia
The Autry National Center of the American West is an intercultural center and museum in Los Angeles
, California
that celebrates the diversity and history of the American West through three important institutions: the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of the American West, and the Institute for the Study of the American West. The Autry's mission is to explore the experiences and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West, connecting the past with the present to inform our shared future. All of the exhibitions, public programs, K-12 educational services and publications are designed to further this mission. Located at the Museum of the American West, the Wells Fargo Theater is also part of the center.
.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
that celebrates the diversity and history of the American West through three important institutions: the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of the American West, and the Institute for the Study of the American West. The Autry's mission is to explore the experiences and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West, connecting the past with the present to inform our shared future. All of the exhibitions, public programs, K-12 educational services and publications are designed to further this mission. Located at the Museum of the American West, the Wells Fargo Theater is also part of the center.
Locations
The Autry National Center is spread over two locations, about 8 miles (12.9 km) apart:- Museum of the American West
- 4700 Western Heritage Way
- Los Angeles
- Southwest Museum (galleries closed for renovation; ethnobotanical garden and gift shop open on weekends)
- 234 Museum Drive
- Los Angeles
Contents
- The Southwest Museum's 238,000-piece collection of Native American artNative American artVisual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present...
is one of the most significant and representative of its kind in the United States, second only to the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
National Museum of the American IndianNational Museum of the American IndianThe National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
. Comprising 14,000 baskets, 10,000 ceramic items, 6,300 textiles and weavings, and more than 1,100 pieces of jewelry, the collection represents indigenous peoples from Alaska to South America, with an emphasis on cultures from California and the Southwestern United StatesSouthwestern United StatesThe Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
. The Southwest Museum was founded in 1907 and is the oldest museum in Los Angeles.
- The Museum of the American West was established in 1988 by Gene AutryGene AutryOrvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
(as "Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum") to explore and share the comprehensive story of the American West and the multiple cultures, perspectives, traditions, and experiences–real and imagined–that make the West significant. Its collection is composed of 21,000 paintings, sculptures, costumes, textiles, firearms, tools, toys, musical instruments, and other objects.
- The Institute for the Study of the American West is a research and publishing enterprise that produces and supports scholarly work in Western history and the arts. In 2002, the Women of the West Museum of Colorado merged with the Institute, infusing the Autry’s focus with a scholarly and educational emphasis on gender issues and women’s experiences in the American West.
Museum of the American West
This museum is the original museum dedicated by Gene Autry to those who lived and shaped the American West. The museum presents thought-provoking contemporary and historical exhibitions, year-round programs for children, intellectual forums, and the acclaimed Native Voices at the Autry performing arts series. The museum is located at the Autry National Center in Griffith ParkGriffith Park
Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America...
.