January 29 — December 31, 2026

The Western You Think You Know? Think Again. Step into the real story of the Hollywood Western — the films that reshaped America.

In the 1940s and 50s, the Western dominated American cinema. But by the mid-1960s, audiences were shifting, production slowed, and critics predicted the genre’s demise. They said the Western was dead. They were wrong.

Still in the Saddle: A New History of the Hollywood Western tells the dramatic story of the Western’s unexpected rebirth from the late 1960s through the 1990s. During a time of social unrest, political turmoil, and economic uncertainty filmmakers reinvented the genre, creating competing visions of the Old West that reflected a rapidly changing America.

Featuring iconic films such as True Grit, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch, Little Big Man, and The Outlaw Josey Wales, the exhibition immerses visitors in the era through screen-worn costumes, dozens of vintage movie posters, film stills, and dramatic clip reels.

Six themed sections, each exploring a distinct dimension of the genre’s evolution from portrayals of Indigenous people, to the rise of new kinds of heroes, to the iconic legacies of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood.

Your experience begins the moment you arrive: A gallery entrance evoking Scottsdale’s former Round-Up Drive-In, and an entrance styled after a late 1960s movie theater. Still in the Saddle invites you to step into the cinematic world of the Western and experience how these films were originally seen and felt.

A Record-Breaking Opening

The exhibition debuted with an exclusive VIP Preview Night, followed by a Members Preview Day, where curator-led tours sold out in advance, launching with extraordinary momentum.

That excitement carried into opening night, when record-breaking crowds filled the galleries during Scottsdale Art Walk, marking one of the most successful exhibition openings.

With continued programming, curator talks, film screenings, and daily docent tours, Still in the Saddle invites visitors to keep coming back to explore the Hollywood Western—and the America that shaped it—in greater depth.

Docent-led guided tours daily.
11:20 a.m.
FREE with Museum admission

About the Curator

Still in the Saddle is curated by Dr. Andrew Patrick Nelson, Chief Curator at Western Spirit and one of the nation’s leading authorities on Western cinema, art, and culture. His expertise has been featured in The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, NPR, and the History Channel, and he is widely recognized for reshaping how audiences understand the Hollywood Westerns.

 

Dr. Nelson developed this exhibition from his acclaimed book Still in the Saddle: The Hollywood Western, 1969–1980 and has significantly expanded the version that premiered at the Briscoe Western Art Museum in 2021. Today’s exhibit includes new sections, additional rare movie posters, and deeper explorations.

As both a scholar and storyteller, Dr. Nelson brings his insight into how the Western evolved during one of the most turbulent periods in American history and why these films continue to shape our understanding of the West today.