Celebrate Wild West Wildlife at this Beastly Fun and Free Festival at the Briscoe!
Start the year in a wild way and celebrate Wild West Wildlife at the Briscoe Western Art Museum during its Wild West Wildlife Festival on Saturday, Jan. 21, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the museum’s campus on the banks of the River Walk. The free community event, which includes free admission to the museum and its exhibitions, offers a beastly day of animal fun, education and hands-on crafts for all ages to enjoy. The festival features art, storytelling and more to inspire everyone to explore the nature all around them. The event will be held rain or shine in the museum’s Jack Guenther Pavilion.
The Wild West Wildlife Festival highlights the wildlife that calls the West home, celebrating the flora and fauna that define the West and inspire Western art. With a focus on Texas habitats and creatures great and small, everyone will learn more about the animals and natural beauty that put the “wild” in the wild West. Local wildlife experts will be on hand to share details about the animals that call San Antonio home and animal-themed art activities will give everyone something wild to enjoy.
Activities include:
- Enjoy animal stories with Miss Anastasia, the beloved former elementary teacher who makes books come to life during her story times.
- Dive into what owls eat by exploring owl pellets. The undigested part of what an owl eats, owl pellets are a great way to uncover what owls eat and are often dissected to discover what bones and more are left behind after owls enjoy their dinner.
- Making sun prints, using the sun’s UV rays to make prints. Known as cyanotype, this process was one of the first ways of producing photographs and dates back to 1842. Local artist Mary Margaret Johnson will lead sessions where everyone can arrange flowers, foliage or objects to create their own sun print to take home.
- Join Mitchell Lake Audubon Center educators and learn about animals you might have seen in your own backyard, how to match them to their tracks, and create your own track to take home. Learn how pollinator plants help out these animals and other wildlife while making your own paper pot to fill with a nectar plant to benefit these animal friends.
- Explore animal skins, skull replicas, and more with Hill Country State Area as they share information about Texas wildlife and examples of the many ways people in the past interacted with nature.
- Make your own bird feeder and other wild crafts such as bear fork painting, egg carton animals, bison masks and pressed flower bookmarks.
Food Truck
And if you get wildly hungry, Lada Ladies food truck will be on hand to keep everyone fed.
Photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen
Wild West Wildlife is also a celebration of Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild, an exhibition containing 40 of the renowned nature photographer’s most resonant photographs—images that take viewers on a journey across the West and around the globe. On view at the Briscoe through Jan. 29, the exhibition is included with museum admission and free for everyone to enjoy during Wild West Wildlife. The exhibition also features a children’s area allowing children to connect with the animals captured by Mangelsen’s lens.
Head West from the Heart of San Antonio
An oasis of Western beauty just off the River Walk, the McNutt Sculpture Garden and the museum grounds feature 35 sculptures portraying various aspects of Western life. Inside the museum’s beautifully restored historic home inside the former San Antonio Public Library building, the Briscoe’s collection spans 14 galleries, with special exhibitions, events and a fantastic museum shop, providing art, culture, history and entertainment.
More Information
The Briscoe is open Thursday through Monday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and closed to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Admission is free for children 12 and under and for active duty military members. The museum is proud to participate in Museums For All, Blue Star Museums and Bank of America Museums on Us. The Briscoe is located on the south end of the River Walk, near the Arneson River Theatre and La Villita, with convenient parking at the Riverbend Garage directly adjacent to the museum or one of many downtown surface lots. Museum hours, parking and admission details are available online.
