Qualla: Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West https://qualla.com/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:03 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/q/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West https://qualla.com/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West: Introduction https://qualla.com/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west/ Photo credit PamMcP, CC BY-SA 4.0. "We are not a museum of objects, but a museum of ideas." Founding Director Mike Fox captured something essential about Western Spirit when he said those words. This 43,000-square-foot building in Old Town Scottsdale houses artifacts from Kit Carson's messenger pouch to Taylor Swift's performance outfits, but the real collection is harder to catalogue: the overlapping stories of Indigenous peoples, Spanish missionaries, Mexican settlers, and American pioneers across 19 Western states, Western Canada, and Mexico. The museum opened in January 2015, but its origin reaches back to former Scottsdale mayor Herb Drinkwater, who served from 1980 to 1996 and dreamed of a place where, as the museum's tagline puts it, "the Old West meets the New West."

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Image: PamMcP | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/q/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west-wp/9tbq-western-spirit-scottsdales-museum-of-the-west-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West: A Building That Breathes the Desert https://qualla.com/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west/ Photo credit Oqsayers, CC BY-SA 4.0. Architects Christiana Moss and Christopher Alt of Studio MA designed a structure that doesn't just sit in the Sonoran Desert but participates in it. The concrete ribbing on the exterior mimics the ribs of a saguaro cactus, casting passive vertical shade that reduces cooling costs...

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Image: Oqsayers | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/q/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west-wp/9tbq-western-spirit-scottsdales-museum-of-the-west-a-building-that-breathes-the-desert.mp3 0:06 2 full Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West: Treasures of the Trail https://qualla.com/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west/ Photo credit Oqsayers, CC BY-SA 4.0. The ongoing exhibition "Courage and Crossroads" displays some of the American West's most significant artifacts. A presentation-style pipe tomahawk given to Meriwether Lewis during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Kit Carson's actual messenger pouch. Over 100 paintings and sculptu...

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Image: Oqsayers | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/q/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west-wp/9tbq-western-spirit-scottsdales-museum-of-the-west-treasures-of-the-trail.mp3 0:06 3 full Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West: Six Centuries of Hopi Clay https://qualla.com/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west/ Photo credit Scotwriter21, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Allan and Judith Cooke Collection anchors one of the museum's most remarkable permanent exhibitions: over 65 masterworks of Hopi pottery spanning six centuries. An interactive video demonstrates the creation process that transforms desert clay into vessels of extraordinary be...

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Image: Scotwriter21 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/q/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west-wp/9tbq-western-spirit-scottsdales-museum-of-the-west-six-centuries-of-hopi-clay.mp3 0:06 4 full Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West: The West on Screen https://qualla.com/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west/ Photo credit PamMcP, CC BY-SA 4.0. Dr. Rennard Strickland spent 50 years amassing over 7,000 Western and Indian movie posters, lobby cards, and graphic arts. His collection now lives at Western Spirit, a visual history of how Hollywood shaped and sometimes distorted America's understanding of the West. The posters...

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Image: PamMcP | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/q/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west-wp/9tbq-western-spirit-scottsdales-museum-of-the-west-the-west-on-screen.mp3 0:06 5 full Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West: Where Artists Still Roam https://qualla.com/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west/ Photo credit Oqsayers, CC BY-SA 4.0. True West Magazine has named Western Spirit "The Nation's Best Western Museum" every year from 2016 through 2021. The recognition reflects not just the permanent collection but the ambitious rotating exhibitions: Maynard Dixon's American West, Charles M. Russell, the Taos Society...

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]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/t/b/q/western-spirit-scottsdale-s-museum-of-the-west-wp/9tbq-western-spirit-scottsdales-museum-of-the-west-where-artists-still-roam.mp3 0:06 6 full