By Brad McMullen

One of the highlights of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is seeing the walls of the G Three Bar Theater fill up with colorful artwork from the students of Elko County, Nevada. Every year, Elko County art teachers submit art from hundreds of kids from around the county (including students from some of our one-room schoolhouses) to be exhibited as a part of the Gathering, showing off the talents of the next generation to the thousands of Gathering attendees. It’s wonderful to have a chance this year to show off all their creative art to an even wider audience – not just Las Vegas, but the whole world, thanks to the innovative online exhibit, Colors of the West: Youth Art from the 2020 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

Exhibiting this artwork is just one of the ways that local students are able to participate in the Gathering, but it is an important part. (Be sure to check out the curator’s talk on Facebook on Thursday, July 2, if you want to hear about how kids are a key part of the Gathering!) The art the kids display each year is more than just a piece of classroom artwork – it’s a chance for teachers to integrate the history and culture of the West and teach it through the arts, as well as give the kids a chance to express local history and heritage in a unique medium.

The arts, humanities, and sciences might get discussions as if they were their own separate, siloed topics, but activities like these give students a chance to engage with them in a unified manner. The arts and humanities work hand-in-hand, whether you’re 8, 18, or 80, and this exhibit is an example of how to start that combination when people are young.

Double Down Blog credit: Image/Jessica Brandi Lifland — *Double Down Blog* credit: Image/Jessica Brandi Lifland

Brad McMullen is the Programs and Gathering Manager for the Western Folklife Center.

Colors of the West: Youth Art from the 2020 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is on display online as part of the Nevada Humanities Exhibition Series. A Colors of the West curator’s talk will take place virtually on Thursday, July 2, 2020, premiering at 7 pm on the Nevada Humanities Facebook page at: facebook.com/nevadahumanities. The exhibition will be on continuous display on the Nevada Humanities website.

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Colors of the West: Arts & Humanities in Education