OFF THE Beaten PATH EXPLORING THE BYWAYS OF TEXAS ARTS.(museums, festivals and cultural events in Texas)

Publication: Texas Monthly

Publication Date: 01-MAR-01

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COPYRIGHT 2001 Texas Monthly, Inc.

While there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy mainstream venues for the arts, the adventurous soul who longs to explore the less traveled road will be rewarded with unexpected treasures around every corner--blues shows and cowboy poetry, outsider art and classic Western art, and small-town wonders. An excursion along Texas' offbeat artistic byways is bound to yield both inspiration and quirky pleasures--as well as a greater understanding of what Texas is all about.

The lore of the West--tales and truths about Native Americans, cowboys, cowgirls, and the frontier spirit--is very much alive here. The heroic scale of the outdoor bronzes and the grand hacienda architecture of the Cowboy Artists of America Museum (1550 Bandera Highway, Kerrville, 830-896-2553) prepare the way for the galleries within, where exhibits depict both the true history of the West and the silver-screen version. At the museum's annual "Roundup" festivities, a re-created cow camp offers an authentic chuck-wagon breakfast. For another facet to the story of the cowboy, check out the American Cowboy Museum, on the century-old Taylor-Stevenson Ranch (11822 Alameda, Houston, 713-433-4441), which examines the contributions of African American, Latino, and Native Americans to the cowboy heritage. At the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame (111 W. Fourth, Fort Worth, 817-336-4475) the stories of some of the remarkable women who participated in taming the frontier take center stage--not just cowgirls, but ranchers, writers, artists, teachers, and entertainers who have, through their courage, blazed trails for women everywhere.

A variety of curious historic sites and ruins here and there across the state give the imagination opportunity to conjure up its own scenes of life in the Old West. You can almost...

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