The Rockwell Museum of Western Art

Today we took an impromptu field trip to this museum of western art to see...any guesses? The art work of Charles M. Russell (Cowboy Charlie!). We were going to the FLL tournament in the same town and I took the two younger boys for the fun.

Not having been to art museum with my kids yet, I wasn't sure what to expect, but if you have the chance to be near the Southern Tier of NY, I highly recommend it! They did a really good job of engaging the kids and I'm looking forward to going again this time with all the kids when R10 has begun the American Girl Josefina.

The boys were able to do a scavenger hunt looking for elements in the paintings on each floor. At the end they got a little prize to take home along with their papers. They also have back packs you can take a long which have activities in them that focus on different aspects of the paintings they have in residence. Oh and pardon the poor picture quality...these were taken without flash (of course!) with my cell phone. The other camera was with the FLL team!

Charles Russell is considered one of the best animal painters in the world and he loved painting everything about the west. According to the facts at the back of the book Cowboy Charlie, his is the only statue of an artist in the Rotunda of the Capital building in Washington, DC.

This has been a great study for I8! I'm so excited we got to visit his paintings. It was really cool to show him that these were paintings that Cowboy Charlie actually painted. They were not copies. And for our first trip to an all out art museum, it was terrific!