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Kerrville’s Museum of Western Art is 60 miles from San Antonio, west on I-10. It's a fairly scenic drive to the museum grounds.
The museum can now also boast being an award-winner. It is considered the top Western art museum in the U.S. for 2025.
A quick tour of the place reveals the unique features that set it apart.
Darryl Beauchamp is executive director of the museum. “We've got an excellent 12-acre campus, located in a beautiful spot overlooking the Guadalupe River,” he said.
He noted the museum has a calling that’s a little different from what big city western museums experience.
“We're different, right? We're a rural type setting, and museum ... (and) we have as many visitors come from around the country as we do right here in Kerrville and Kerr County.”
The museum's architectural background is one that gives it even more distinction.
“(We've) been in this location since 1983. The building was built by a guy named O'Neill Ford. He's a famous Texas architect in San Antonio." Beauchamp noted that the architect's work can be seen prominently on the campus of Trinity University and the Tower of the Americas.
The museum itself has several large display rooms for different types of items. One wall runs about 30’ by 8’ and it contains almost 600 different types of barbed wire.
Another wall holds their current display of several dozen paintings of churches by impressionist Walt Gonski.
Displays and exhibits are changed out every four months, so there is always something new to see.
The selection process for the prestigious award is based on "the museum’s exhibits, facilities, multimedia and online accessibility, events, and promotion of historic/cultural resources," said a statement from Johnny D. Boggs, the publisher of True West, who was quoted on the museum's website.
“Yeah, this is a national recognition for us, and from a major national magazine," Beauchamp said. "And that's against all museums across the country in the Western art genre."
"(They) deemed us the number one Western art museum in the country," said Beauchamp. "And, you know, it's kind of like being the prettiest pig at State Fair: it's a judgment call, it's a beauty contest, but we'll take it!”
You can find out more—and take a virtual tour, at MuseumOfWesternArt.com.
