a. r. mitchell memorial museum of western art

A.R. Mitchell was a western artist in the 1900's. He spent his summers cowboying and painting in the Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, New Mexico areas and his winters living in New York City, where he studied and later taught art and painting. Many of the early dime western novels had his paintings as covers! Approximately 25 miles west of Trinidad up Colorado highway 12 (The Highway of Legends) is a two story adobe home that was built by his sister and husband. Mitchell worked on the design and construction of the house in 1927. The museum is not open in the winter but is a worthwhile stop if traveling on I-25 past Trinidad, CO in the summer.

The Mitchell Museum has lots of interesting things. The main attraction is the artwork by A. R. Mitchell. The museum also has several fantastic events through out the year. Mainly the Black and White Ball in Oct., which is a fundraiser for the museum

Go visit for the art, history and architecture. The hostesses were incredibly knowledgeable about Trinidad history as well. What surprised me was A.R Mitchell's paintings of horses. They are magnificent. What a treasure. I won't repeat what others have said...all true. Watch the video when you go in. Gives a great perspective.

On the Main Street this museum was formerly a department store with a very open concept and an interior gallery. The original tin ceiling has been maintained and along with the expansive wall space make displaying of the works of art by the late pulp western magazine artist A. R. Mitchell readily viewable. Whether you like "cowboy" Art or not, seeing this museum will give you a whole new appreciation of not only the subject matter, but also how an older building built for another purpose can be given new life.

Suzanne showed us all around and made us feel welcome. The paintings are outstanding and the shop has neat souvenirs.

Arthur Mitchell was a talented artist of the southwest! He was an unknown to us for reasons we soon learned. We loved his work and appreciate his talents. The Museum setting is most appropriate and we enjoyed that too!

He was an art instructor at the Trinidad State Junior College at the same time my uncle was the head gun smith instructor at the same college.He and my uncle were close friends and for years for Christmas and my uncle and aunt's anniversary he would give them a painting. One of those paintings was of a man on bucking horse on white background.Art Mitchell was also the curator for a museum in Trinidad for years. One day I went with my uncle to see Art at an office he had at the museum. His office was full of paintings he had done. From what I understood back then is Art rarely ever sold a painting

There were many interesting historic pictures, artifacts and beautiful art on display. We learned a lot about the history of Trinidad and found may fascinating displays. The staff, as well as everyone we met, where helpful and very friendly.

Over 250 paintings of cowboys by an artist I knew little about. He did alot on the American cowboy including covers for Wild west comics and books. Museum also has displays on the histpry of the area and a traveling exhibit on travel from the Smithsonian Museum. I loved the open space and wood floors in the building which was the old department store.

Run by volunteers and of excellent quality. People were very knowledgeable and willing to answer questions. Not only is it about A.R. Mitchell and his paintings but has lots about the town and labour history.

I knew nothing about Mitchell which made his story even more interesting. Lots of paintings and items from his life. The museum needs better lighting and labeling, but there is plenty to enjoy while learning about this fascinating man.

The museum is free with a suggested donation of $5. You can watch a video first that's kind of long (about 30 min.), but if you have time, it's worth it. It helps you appreciate the town through the artist's eyes and really get a feel for its history. Then you can just walk around at your own pace to look at the paintings, illustrations, and artifacts.I went here toward the end of my second and last day in Trinidad, and I wished that I had visited this museum as soon as I had gotten into town. I think it would have helped me to appreciate Trinidad more.

The learning experience. My kids enjoyed most of the information they had to over and would love to tell their friends all about it. It was great!!!

Liked It, very reasonable $3 buck admission. Spent a couple of hours looking at everything and watching some kind of reenactment of old western life.

if you could see through the museum artifacts and see the old department store, it was a great architectual history lesson. I found it fun to try to envison the department store in its day.The artifacts on display were nicely presented and perserved. Check out the photograph display in the lower level and the gift shop as well.