Event preview

Southeastern Cowboy Festival & Symposium

Thursday though Saturday at Booth Western Art Museum. $10; 65 and over, $8; students, $7; under age 12, $3. 501 Museum Drive, Cartersville. 770-387-1300, www.boothmuseum.org.

Serious about the understanding and an advancement of Western art; and seriously into cowboy-hat wearing, family-friendly fun.

Both are consistent aspects of the persona of Cartersville's Booth Western Art Museum, which hosts the four-day Southeastern Cowboy Festival & Symposium starting Thursday.

The 11th annual gathering, which typically includes everything from art lectures to a reenactment of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, boasts a major addition this year. "Today's West: Contemporary Art From the Buffalo Bill Center of the West," an exhibit drawn from the Cody, Wyo., art institution opens Thursday for a run through April 13.

It features 60 mostly large-scale contemporary works in a range of media that trace Western art developments from 1960 to today, and it's a bookend exhibit with the High Museum of Art's "Go West: Art of the American Frontier From the Buffalo Bill Center of the West." The High show covers the period from 1830 to 1930 and opens Nov. 3 at the Midtown museum.

Here’s a glance at Cowboy Festival & Symposium highlights in Cartersville:

  • 4:30 p.m. Thursday: Opening reception for "Today's West" and gallery walk for "My West: The Art of Theodore Waddell," an exhibit of 50 impressionistic paintings, hand-made prints and sculpture by the Montana and Idaho artist. Waddell will tour guests through his show at 4:30. Light refreshments will be served in the museum's cafe starting at 5:30.
  • 10:30 a.m. Friday: Retired U.S. Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) opens the symposium with the talk "Why I Love Western Art, the Booth and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West." At 11:30, Michelle Anne Delaney of the Smithsonian Institution discusses "Advance Work: Art and Advertising in Buffalo Bill's Wild West." High Museum American art curator Stephanie Heydt details its "Go West" show at 2 p.m., and Mindy Besaw, a Buffalo Bill Center curator, talks about "Today's West" at 3 p.m.
  • 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday: Cowboy Festival, kid's activities and Western marketplace. Day-long entertainment on two stages includes the ever-popular O.K. Corral reenactments at 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m.; cowboy music and poetry with Tom Kerlin and Jim Dorsett at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.; and traditional native American dancing at 4 p.m. There will a children's parade for costumed kids ages 2-12 at 1:30 p.m. (also at 2 p.m. Sunday).
  • 7 p.m. Saturday: John Anderson concert at the Grand Theatre (to purchase tickets, $30: 770-387-1300).
  • Noon-5 p.m. Sunday: Cowboy Festival continues. Highlights include non-denominational Cowboy Church at 11 a.m.; "The Lone Ranger Creed with the Lone Ranger and Tonto" program at 1:30 p.m.; and "Code of the West with Hopalong Cassidy" at 2:30 p.m.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Foo Fighters closed out Shaky Knees 2024 at Central Park with extended versions of their biggest hits. The indie rock festival has moved to Piedmont Park for this weekend's event. (Ryan Fleisher for the AJC)

Credit: Ryan Fleisher

Featured

In this file photo from October 2024, Atlanta Braves outfielder Jorge Soler and teammates react after losing to the San Diego Padres 5-4 in San Diego. The Braves and Soler, who now plays for the Los Angeles Angels, face a lawsuit by a fan injured at a 2021 World Series game at Truist Park in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com