What is a Western? Film Series
The Autry’s long-running film series expands on themes in the Imagined Wests exhibition. Check here for upcoming films and past online programs.
Imagined Wests
Ongoing
Ted and Marian Craver Imagination Gallery
About the Exhibition
In the long-term exhibition Imagined Wests, visitors of all ages can explore the ways we tell stories about the American West through pop culture, clothing, toys, art, archives, and other media. The exhibition features over 250 objects from the Autry collections, as well as multimedia and hands-on activities, including the museum’s popular “green screen.” The gallery asks, as we so often do at the Autry, “What is a Western?”
Imagined Wests travels through Western storytelling landscapes, through retellings of history, and through the craft of many “West makers” from tailors to actors. We also explore the “view from here,” a focus on Southern California’s role as a place for stories.
Highlights
Robert Temple Ayres, Map to Illustrate the Ponderosa in Nevada, 1959. Gouache on paper. Donated in memory of David and Rose Dortort; 2010.52.1.
Summer Yahbay, ‘ukulele, 2021. Czech glass beads and acrylic paint on ‘ukulele. 2021.2.1.
Summer Yahbay (Ojibwe) created this beaded and painted ‘ukulele, showing with exquisite detail how Native traditions evolve in conversation with pop culture.
Jerry Laktonen, Dunqiiq, 2011. Mixed media. Donated by Monica Jane Wyatt; 2013.37.1.
Artist Jerry Laktonen combines Alutiiq mask-making traditions with the map a basketball coach might draw for a play.
Learn More
Artist Conversation with Summer Yahbay
Joe Horse Capture and artist Summer Yahbay (formerly Peters) in conversation present an in-depth look at her works. Summer uses traditional Ojibwe artistic beadwork to create stunning contemporary pieces.
Tabletop Frontier
This blog post explores a miniature Western town featured in Imagined Wests.
Based on a True Story
This conversation with historian John Mack Faragher and artist Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva) expands on “historical imagination,” one of the key themes of Imagined Wests. Alvitre also participated in creating a Tongva display in the exhibition.
Megan Thee Stallion: Rap, Anime, and the Imagined West
Megan Thee Stallion: Rap, Anime, and the Imagined West
A blog post about musician Megan Thee Stallion’s influence on the way we imagine the American West.
In Conversation with Lewis deSoto
Lewis deSoto (Cahuilla) speaks with Joshua Garrett-Davis, the Autry's Gamble Associate Curator of Western History, Popular Culture, and Firearms, discuss deSoto's work and popular culture storytelling of the American West.
Excavating Stories of Women Archaeologists in the Archive
Bertha Parker Cody (Seneca/Abenaki), featured in Imagined Wests, appears in this blog post about what stories museums and archives tell about the West.
Linking the Lummis Family
This blog details collections data on family albums of Charles Lummis, the Southwest Museum founder, who is featured in Imagined Wests.
Sponsors
Imagined Wests is supported by The Ahmanson Foundation, Jackie and Gene Autry, Bank of America, David W. Cartwright, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, the National Endowment for the Humanities,* the Plummer Family, Lois Rice, Stanley B. Schneider, and Pamella and Johnny Zamrzla.
*Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
