Whitney museum climbs to the top of Readers’ Choice Awards

CODY (WNE) — The Whitney Western Art Museum of Cody recently landed at the top of Newsweek magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards.

The list of the top ten, which included some major institutions from around the country, was selected by the magazine’s “expert panelists and contributors and voted on by readers as the best of the best,” according to newsweek.com/readerschoice/best-art-museum.

“It was really exciting just to have made it to the short list of those ten institutions,” Whitney curator Susan Barnett said Tuesday. “Just to be listed among those institutions was an honor.”

“It has a small museum feel, yet also has a top-notch collection ranging from old masters to living artists,” she said, adding that the Whitney’s central strength is its special relationship to the other wings of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

Newsweek’s description of the Whitney read, “…The Whitney Western Art Museum offers a unique focus on art of the American West. Its extensive holdings range from 19th-century to contemporary works and include paintings, printings, sketches, watercolors, bronzes and photographs depicting western landscapes, wildlife, and inhabitants.

Following the Whitney were The Art Institute of Chicago, the McNay Art Museum of San Antonio, Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, Denver Art Museum, Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, Calif., Milwaukee Art Museum, and Seattle Art Museum.

This story was published on March 13, 2024.