Scottsdale’s Museum of the West

Scottsdale, United States

4.1

Closed now

12 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 480-686-9539
Website:
www.scottsdalemuseumwest.org
Address:
3830 N Marshall Way, Scottsdale, AZ, 85251
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Bussiness info

Good for Kids
Yes

Today

Today 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Scottsdale) 7:26 AM Saturday, June 28, 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday 9:30 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 5:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West is Arizona’s newest attraction and premier destination in Old Town Scottsdale; The West’s Most Western Town. Since its January 15, 2015 opening, the museum has received amazing accolades from visitors to the 43,000 sq ft building. Find yourself in the West with interactive multi-​media experiences, cowboys, lawmen and outlaws, celebrated artworks, and authentic stories of western life.

Western Spirit offers high-​quality exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach addressing regional history, particularly as reflected by the arts and the dynamic cultural exchanges that have marked the transition of the Old West into the New West.

History

Established in 2015.

Former Scottsdale Mayor Herb Drinkwater had a vision of a Western art museum in the heart of downtown Scottsdale; now known as «The West’s Most Western Town.»

Drinkwater passed away in 1998, but city officials continued to try everything to create the museum! For years they were unsuccessful, until 2007. Community leaders and residents created a 501©3 organization to move the project forward.

«Despite the fact that he’s no longer with us, that dream surprisingly has carried forward for all these years,» — Michael Fox, Director/​CEO of Scottsdale’s Museum of the West.

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12 reviews of Scottsdale’s Museum of the West

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Place rating: 5
Langdon, ND
What an amazing experience! So much history in this museum that hours feel like minutes. Everyone should take a day to visit!
Place rating: 5
Scottsdale, AZ
A brand new facility that is well maintained. It offers a mix of artwork and artifacts related to the west. You are allowed to take pictures without flash. Specifically there is large Lewis and Clark dedicated area. They have a 10 minute film that is show in their theatre throughout the day.
The facility offers a couple small interactive activities for kids, and some video stations. The gift shop is small.
For the facility and collection, the entrance cost is reasonable.
Place rating: 5
Washington, DC
Nice place. It shows a lot of great paintings and sculptures, which reveals the American West history. I love the unbelievable three dimensional relief painting. It is not only art, but also science.
Place rating: 4
Brooklyn, NY
Great museum with changing installations. We did a tour with Sue and she was so warm and knowledgable. After our tour we were listening to the a staff member Wade describe what he saw in some of the paintings and we went back through with his views and noticed so much more.
Place rating: 4
Scottsdale, AZ
Now that temps are strictly in the 105+ range, we’ve been trying to figure out weekend activities that keep us cool. We both hate wasting the weekend away at home with the TV, so I’m always searching out events, happenings and yep, museums, that provide us with both entertainment and heat oasis.
Our first impression of the Museum of the West was that is just simply looked AWESOME. Before headed in, we marched around the outside looking at sculptures and admiring the landscaping. It’s just a unique space and very well-​done. The inside provides more of the same. I thought the $ 13 admission per adult was fair.
The place is beautiful inside, and it’s just coolto see a museum in it’s first few months of opening. The Lewis and Clark exhibit was really interesting, and winding our way through the other rooms was an entertaining way to spend an afternoon. I loved the collection of historical rodeo memorabilia, and the gun/​spur/​saddle collections are neat. The small sculpture garden area in the middle of the first floor was worth a walk-​around, even in the summer. Also, don’t miss the «optical illusion» piece as well as a photo-​op with a giant bison right by the gift store.
All in all, this was a fun way to spend a few hours without melting!
Place rating: 5
Phoenix, AZ
I came today with my aunt who is visiting from the Chicago area and we spent some great, quality time at this museum. I’ve lived in the area for 17 years, and found out by accident that this museum opened earlier this year. Everything is brand new and beautifully constructed and laid out. The western artwork is very diverse and stunning.
As others have noted, the Lewis & Clark exhibit is worth a visit alone, but there are also amazing collections of western memorabilia such as saddles, law badges, cowboy art and sculpture, and notable personalities associated with the southwest. They also have a small, interactive area for kids. The focus here however is primarily art — specifically historical artwork related to the west. A tour with a docent is an excellent way to explore one of the various galleries. We spent 2 hours here easily, and I will more than likely come back for another visit. Parking is free in the adjacent garage, and all areas of the museum are accessible. A great addition to the «West’s most Western town»!
Place rating: 3
Orlando, FL
This was just OK. They had a nice series of pictures about the Lewis and Clark expedition. That was the main exhibit. The rest was a mixed bag of stuff. They really need more content here.
Place rating: 2
Scottsdale, AZ
It is no doubt very difficult to start a new museum… what do you do first… what do you delay…
In this case, they started with a wonderful shell of a building, a fitting architectural jewel, that will endure as the organization improves and ages.
On display are a few very nice pieces (permanent collection or on-​loan) and an exhibition of many paintings by one artist on one subject funded by a prominent collector/​donor to the museum.
Staff seems a little confused, except for the very pleasant accommodating fellow who takes your iPhone pic of you in the fun and unique western trompe l’oeil mural.
Place rating: 4
Scottsdale, AZ
I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Scottsdale’s Museum of the West and I’m so happy they finally opened! Thanks to Parada Del Sol, we got to visit the museum free of admission on the day of the parade which was a very nice perk!
This is a truly beautiful museum and done to perfection. Everything from the architecture and structure to the pieces on display and décor are done flawlessly. It’s quite obvious that the designers put a lot of time and thought into this museum.
For the theme of the museum, I would say that it’s more of a mix of Native American culture as well as Western influence because half of the museum is Native American Art. The other half of the museum has western artifacts which are fun to look at. I hope they add more interactive elements to the museum at some point because as of now, it’s not very kid-​friendly in the sense that your kids would necessarily enjoy it. However, they also have a movie theater where they play films. It’s a beautiful complex and worth visiting.
Place rating: 3
Phoenix, AZ
It’s great if all you like to do is look at pictures on a wall. Needs more western themed art and stuff.
Place rating: 5
Hinsdale, IL
Don’t miss this fabulous new museum and be sure to allows a couple of hours. The structure itself plus the landscaping features are unusual and outstanding and certainly worthy of comment on their own. The Maynard Dixon almost mural type art in
the lobby sets a great stage for this museum and then one continues to the Lewis & Clark exhibit and on. We had not allowed enough time to satisfy us and do justice to the museum so we concentrated on the above — a return visit soon is a must
Place rating: 4
Pleasanton, CA
This is a beautiful museum dedicated to American Indians and local Cowboys. It just opened yesterday and costs $ 12 to enter. Even the outside of this place is attractive. You’ll go crazy if you like this kind of art but I missed having that in my gene pool.