Past Events

Don’t miss the Apache film panel discussion in the Museum’s Cultural Crossroads Learning Center on Thursday, March 10, 10:30 am – 12 noon. Join Dr. Eduardo Pagán with special guests Marshall Shore, Arizona’s Hip Historian, and film expert Jim Swift. The panel will show clips from different Western films and talk about representations of the […]

Cost: $75 members/$100 non-members Join master docent Joe Stevens as we make visits to Sayer Station, Town of Constellation, Gold Bar, and Monte Cristo. Lunch provided. Very rough terrain requires sturdy shoes and physical ability. Be prepared for moderate walking. Transportation can be provided. If attendees prefer to drive themselves, they can follow in their […]

An Exclusive Tour for DCWM Sustaining Circles Members! Join us with Dick Fredrickson for a botanical tour* near Poquette Tank and Vulture Peak. Meet at Los Caballeros Corrals at 8:30am for self-drive to the Vulture Peak area, an approximate 10-minute drive. Refreshments included! *we will walk through desert terrain, please wear closed-toe comfortable shoes and clothing. RSVP […]

Get ready for a full weekend of exciting and engaging events! Weekend Schedule: Opening Weekend Package Ticket to attend ALL opening weekend events, including: Exhibition Previews, Patrons Party, Lecture, Awards Dinner, Live Auctions, Chuck Wagon Breakfast, and more. $275.00 per person. Main Exhibition Preview and Miniatures Sale Preview Friday, March 25 – 2:00 – 3:00 […]

Family Friday this Friday, April 1 celebrates the opening of the 17th Annual "Cowgirl Up!" Exhibition and Sale. Bring the family to join us in a visual scavenger hunt through the exhibition and get creative by designing your own "Cowgirl Up!" boot. The fun starts in the main museum on 21 N Frontier St. Activities […]

Bruce of Ben's Saddlery in Wickenburg, AZ has built 400 saddles in 39 years, and he estimates with Ben’s saddles, they turned out about 570. The number of repairs to saddles, bridles, and other tack over the years is immeasurable. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, the store produced truckloads of buck-stitched belts with names stamped […]

Wednesday April 13, 11 a.m.  Lecture with Dr. Eduardo Pagán, America’s Longest War: The Apache Wars, 1849-1924 America’s involvement in Afghanistan is often referred to as America’s longest war, but the Apache Wars between Americans and Apaches lasted from 1849 and 1886, with some hostilities continuing until 1924. This presentation will cover how one Apache […]

This event is presented by the Scottsdale Artists' School. Please register here. Join Linda at the Desert Caballeros Museum as she teaches a two-day workshop where students will paint a landscape in the museum learning center using photographs supplied by the instructor. The goal will be to create simple designs that have a strong foundation. […]

The Desert Caballeros Western Museum is pleased to again host the Congressional Arts Competition for Arizona’s 4th Congressional District. An exhibition of artworks from the Competition will be on view in the Cultural Crossroads Learning Center from the afternoon of Monday, April 25 through the awards ceremony on the morning of Saturday, April 30. Since 1982, […]

Cultural Crossroads Learning Center Engage your mind and your hands during our card-making activity for the whole family. Express your creativity and share your feelings for the people you love. Family Friday celebrates a new theme each first Friday of the month. Join us for family fun in the Cultural Crossroads Learning Center on the […]

May 18 we will be marking International Museum Day, 2022. The theme this year is “The Power of Museums”. According to a statement published on the International Council of Museums website, “Museums have the power to transform the world around us. As incomparable places of discovery, they teach us about our past and open our […]

The Museum will roll out the welcome mat to active-duty military and their families by offering free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel, including the National Guard and Reserves, and their families as part of the Blue Star Museums program. The Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, […]

Award-winning "Cowgirl Up!" artist, V.... Vaughan will demonstrate her way to “Grasp a Glance”. V.... says, "It is how I begin ALL MY ART. Then I decide whether to continue in color to turn my glance into a painting, or to leave it." Don’t miss this exclusive demonstration in the Museum's Learning Center on Thursday, […]

The museum and museum stores will be closed to observe Memorial Day. We will re-open on Tuesday at 10 A.M. Summer hours will be in effect from Memorial Day through Labor Day, Sept. 5. Tuesday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.   Closed Mondays and major holidays: New […]

In June we will have a sunflower planting activity. Plant the seeds and take them home in a personal bio-friendly planter. Family Friday celebrates a new theme each first Friday of the month from October through June. Held in the Cultural Crossroads Learning Center on the museum grounds. Free with paid museum admission. Free for […]

National Day of the Cowboy, on the fourth Saturday in July — falling on July 23, this year — is here to prove to us that cowboy culture, despite the misconception that it has faded away over the years and been beaten down by the Information Age, is alive and well. The museum will have […]

West of Center: Highlights from the Wickenburg Art Club Opening Reception on July 29 from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. Free to the public.  On view from July 30, 2022 - September 25, 2022 West of Center will be on exhibit this summer at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum. The exhibition and art sale will […]

Learn about some of our native Arizona wildlife in this hands-on demonstration with actual desert wildlife (animals used for interactions are non-venomous and are proven education animals). Starts at 11 A.M. at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum's Learning Center. Free with Museum admission. Free for kids 17 and under and free for members. This program gives guests […]

Every first Friday of the month we host arts and crafts activities in the "make and take" tradition.  Great for kids 3-83 , home-school children, Wickenburg residents and the surrounding community. Usually held in the Cultural Crossroads Learning Center on the museum grounds and is planned by our Education staff. Free with paid museum admission. […]

In conjunction with our Barry M. Goldwater Photography exhibition, we are pleased to invite you to a FREE documentary movie screening of “Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater” (2006). Join us and scheduled guest, C.C. Goldwater, at the historic Saguaro Theater on 176 East Wickenburg Way. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. Movie starts at 11 a.m. Friday, […]

Members' Appreciation Weekend Starts Friday! October 14-16 is Members Appreciation weekend at the Museum, with a special members’ reception Friday October 14, 5:30-7:00 p.m. including a raffle drawing for a basket of Museum gifts! Receive extra discounts in the Museum store and Ranch Dressing all weekend long! Sign-up online, or call (928) 684-2272, or you can always stop by the museum […]

Arizona Mythical Creatures Are they for real? In the spring of 1890, the Tombstone Epitaph published a very unusual report. Two ranchers in the Huachuca Mountains shot and killed a “winged monster, resembling a huge alligator with an extremely elongated tail and an immense pair of wings.” Did they kill one of the last surviving […]

Time and details for the reception to be confirmed. “Mexican Folk Art: Artesanía del Pueblo”, open to the public October 29, 2022 – October 1, 2023. Artesanía del Pueblo: Mexican Folk Art is a journey into diverse, colorful art from various regions of Mexico. Items are made for utilitarian or decorative purposes or created for […]

Free performance Saturday, October 29 featuring Wickenburg's own Danza Azteca (pictured). Come help us celebrate the opening of "Mexican Folk Art". 11 to 11:15 Welcome and opening remarks, Museum front porch (21 N Frontier St), Executive Director, Dan Finley 11:15 to 11:45 Danza Azteca of Wickenburg, on Frontier Street in front of the museum. **Free […]

Tuesday Nov 1  |  11 a.m.  Spanish speaking tour of “Mexican Folk Art” led by Jackie Pacheco Hancock. Free with paid admission. See our newest exhibition featuring stunning examples of Mexican folk and gain insights on the origins of some of the imagery and styles. To be held in the Cultural Crossroads Learning Center.   […]

Every first Friday of the month we host arts and crafts activities in the "make and take" tradition.  Great for kids 3-83 , home-school children, Wickenburg residents and the surrounding community. This week the activities will be inspired by our newest exhibition, "Mexican Folk Art". Usually held in the Cultural Crossroads Learning Center on the […]

December 21, 2022 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Desert Caballeros Western Museum Fire. Founded in 1960 as a private non-profit institution by Morton Bodfish, Roy Coxwell, H. K. “Mac” MacLennan, Katherine McCrady, and William Weeks, the Desert Caballeros Western Museum took its name from the famous men's trail ride that originated in Wickenburg, Arizona […]

Free admission into the DCWM for all Veterans. Thank you for your service!

Sketching in the Gallery with Artist Rick McGill For all levels. A great way to dip your toes into the world of art. More advanced artists can get great tips on technique from a professional artist with decades of experience. Basic supplies available. Feel free to bring your own. Free with paid museum admission. Free […]

Dude ranches got started in the 1880s as rustic places for men to stay when they came out West from England and the east coast for hunting trips. By the early 20th century dude ranching had become a thriving business, which needed women to keep it going. Women ran ranches with their husbands, or opened […]

Working scale model trains. On view through January 8, 2023 in the Cultural Crossroads Learning Center

We wish you all a happy and safe holiday. We open back up on Friday at 10 a.m.

On Sunday, November 27, 2022, Ranch Dressing and the Museum Store at Desert Caballeros Western Museum join more than 1,800 Museum Stores around the world to offer relaxing, inspired shopping inside your favorite museums and cultural institutions. #MuseumStoreSunday offers a special shopping experience in one-of-a kind stores, showcasing broad assortments of highly curated, unique, mission-specific […]

Don’t miss Bob Boze Bell and Jana Bommersbach’s lecture and book signing at the Museum’s Cultural Crossroads Learning Center at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 13. They will be here to talk about their new book, “Hellraisers and Trailblazers – The Real Women of the Wild West”, a book that was three years in the making. Bommersbach explains that […]

Concurrently with Joni Falk’s exhibition we will be showing the work of Native American sculptor Doug Hyde. Hyde was born in Oregon and is of Assiniboine, Nez Perce, and Chippewa heritage. He attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, where he learned from acclaimed Apache sculptor Alan Houser. He briefly attended the […]

December 17, 2022 — March 5, 2023 The Museum is pleased to present the exhibition Joni Falk: A Painter’s Western Vision, from December 17, 2022, through March 5, 2023. A realist painter of Western still-lifes and landscapes, Joni has lived in Phoenix, Arizona since 1960. She grew up in Chicago and is a graduate of […]

Saturday, December 24  |  1:30 p.m.  Museum and Stores close early. Have a Merry Christmas.  

Kids’ Holiday Workshop in the CCLC, 1 p.m.–4 p.m. $5 for kids.  We will be making: Miniature felt moccasins, sand paintings inspired by Navajo art, but choosing their own subject and a camel mosaic inspired by Beale Trail Recommended ages 8-12, must be able to use scissors and embroidery needle. There will be 20 spots for this […]

Happy New Year!

Desert Adventure Tour: Guest Ranches #1, lunch at Rancho de los Caballeros and transportation included, $105 members/$130 not-yet-members Reserve spaces early as this tour is very popular. A second Guest Ranches tour is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 8. The DCWM will kick off its popular Desert Adventure Tours starting in January. There are limited spots […]

Saturday Jan 21  |  6 p.m. “heART of the West Gala” honoring Joni Falk and Doug Hyde, main museum The heART of the West Gala was conceived in 2014 to pay tribute to the people who reflect the unbridled creativity and history of the American West, and to recognize those who inspire others while shaping […]

Thursday Jan 26  |  11 a.m. Doug Hyde Exhibition Walkthrough with the artist, Doug Hyde

Come to an informative presentation by Bronzesmith Foundry's Ed Riley, Wednesday February 1 at 11 a.m. In the Learning Center. Bronzesmith is located in Prescott Valley and they are responsible for numerous public sculptures that dot our local landscape. Their work is also on view in the current exhibition, “Doug Hyde: Master of Stone and […]

Enjoy a lecture on the origin and history of the Buffalo Soldiers from 1866 to 1948. The First African-American soldiers to arrive in Arizona at Fort Huachuca were the Buffalo Soldiers in the l890's. The Fort Huachuca Buffalo Soldiers became famous for their bravery in the Spanish American War and for their heroic charge up […]

The Dave Stamey concert will be held Friday February 24, 2023 in the DCWM’s Cultural Crossroads Learning Center, Wickenburg, AZ. General Seating | Doors open at 6:00 p.m. | Concert starts at 7:00 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Museum. About Dave Stamey: Cowboys and Indians Magazine has called him "the Charlie Russell of Western Music." Western […]

Chinese merchants and laborers made an indelible mark on the history of the Arizona and the West. This presentation will explore the context for their coming to the United States and their work and contributions to the history of Arizona. Free for Museum members and children ages 17 years and under. Included with paid admission. […]

Tuesday March 7  |  11 a.m. Guided tour in English and Spanish of the Mexican Folk Art exhibition in the CCLC. A great opportunity to ask questions and get a deeper understanding of the exhibition. Free for Museum members and children ages 17 years and under. Included with paid admission.  

Learn about the history of rodeo, origin of rodeo clowns, and development of the clown barrel with professional rodeo clown, Nate “Shotgunn” Reed in the Museum's Learning Center. Reed was voted Barrel Man of the Year for the Grand Canyon Professional Rodeo Association. He started in rodeo when he was 17 in the Arizona Junior […]

18th Annual Cowgirl Up! Opening Weekend: Friday, March 31 through Sunday, April 2, 2023 (Exhibition on view through September 3, 2023) Friday March 31     Cowgirl Up! miniatures sales preview, 2-3 p.m.          Main Museum closes at 3 p.m. for the evening ticketed events. Miniatures sale and Artists and Patrons Reception, 4:30-7 p.m. […]

LOVE THE WEST? JOIN US! PURCHASE A MEMBERSHIP (DISCOUNTS THROUGH APRIL 30) Since 1969, enthusiastic supporters like you have grown DCWM from a local historical society to a nationally recognized center for Western art and history. Join as a Museum Member today and enjoy these great benefits: FREE general admission to the Museum and its […]

18th Annual Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West, Invitational Exhibition & Sale On view through Sunday, September 3, 2023. See the 65 artists and their work About Cowgirl Up! In 2006, Desert Caballeros Western Museum embraced a revolutionary idea: an annual exhibition showcasing the brightest contemporary female artists working in the […]

Desert Adventure Tour: Dutch Oven Cooking at Boyd Ranch. Lunch and transportation provided, $85 members/$110 non-members Tuesday April 4  |  9 a.m.-3 p.m., call (928) 684-2272 to register

The Desert Caballeros Western Museum is proud to announce the winner of the 2nd Annual Elizabeth Hudson Smith Award, Betty Watt. She will formally receive the award during the Cowgirl Up! Western Women of Distinction Luncheon. A well-known figure in Wickenburg, Watt embodies the qualities for which the award was created, leading by example and […]

Special lecture “More than Pocahontas and Squaws: Indigenous Women Coming into Visibility” by Dr. Laura Tohe, presented by Arizona Humanities. Free, made possible by Arizona Humanities. This visual presentation shows how Indigenous American women have contributed service to Arizona and the US, yet were stereotyped in films and remain invisible in the media. Nevertheless, they […]

SUNDAY MAY 14, 11 A.M. - 3 P.M. Celebrate Mother’s Day at the DCWM with special activities and free museum admission for mothers. Enjoy a mocktail  “Momosa” then walk through the galleries of the 2023, women only, Cowgirl Up! exhibition and sale. All mothers will receive free admission to the Museum in honor of Mother’s Day and free […]

Thursday May 18 | 10 a.m. -5 p.m. We encourage all lovers of the Western art, Museums and history to visit us or any Museum to show your appreciation for what our institutions do for society. The theme for the 2023 International Museum Day edition (May 18) is Museums, Sustainability and Wellbeing. Museums are key […]

The Museum will roll out the welcome mat to active-duty military and their families by offering free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel, including the National Guard and Reserves, and their families as part of the Blue Star Museums program. The Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star […]

Saturday-Sunday May 27-28 | Museum Hours Memorial Day weekend—Veterans and one guest are free. We thank you for your service!

Monday May 29 | Closed Memorial Day, Museum and Stores Closed for the Holiday

<!-- --> Dads get in free on Father’s Day, Sunday June 18 from 11 A.M. – 3 P.M. Come to the Museum on Father’s Day! Dads get free admission and dads also get one non-alcoholic “Prickly Pear Papa” beverage (while supplies last) in the Museum’s Learning Center. To make sure dad looks the part, we […]

Tuesday July 4 | Closed 4th of July, Museum and Stores Closed. Have a safe and wonderful holiday!

Celebrate with us on the 19th Annual National Day of the Cowboy, Saturday July 22, 2023. The DCWM will mark National Day of the Cowboy with a family activity until 1:30 p.m. Start the day with a “Buckaroo Passport.” We will have eight centers for visitors to explore and be given a sticker for their passport. Also make […]

The public is invited to attend the Preview Reception on Friday, July 28th from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Come out for an evening of summer fun – view the artwork, vote for your favorite piece of art for the People’s Choice award, enjoy refreshments, and meet our honored guests for this special opening! The […]

The Wickenburg Art Club and the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, cornerstones of Wickenburg’s art community since the 1960s, are excited to announce the return of the “West of Center” art show, a community-curated exhibition and sale. Each summer, the Museum hosts the Wickenburg Art Club which curates a selection of artwork by its talented members. This […]

Once again the Museum will hold its wildly popular "Arizona Wildlife" presentation. This year Ranger Kevin Thorson from the Desert Outdoor Center at Lake Pleasant will bring some animal ambassadors and will talk about a wide range of subjects related to Arizona wildlife. Come early to get your seat. The AZ Wildlife presentation is free […]

Free event: Join Gina Beck, WAC member and owner of “Gina’s Place” in downtown Wickenburg, for a painting demonstration on Saturday, August 26th between 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The demonstration is in conjunction with West of Center: Highlights from the Wickenburg Art Club, an exhibition and sale of artwork by Wickenburg’s talented local artists. […]

Monday Sept 4 | Closed Museum and Stores closed to observe Labor Day.

Nancy Hill, one of the many talented artists of the Wickenburg community, will be conducting a demonstration of her watercolor techniques on Saturday, September 9th. Nancy will unlock the mystery of watercolor as you watch her create a beautiful desert landscape. Nancy will work on a desert scene while she shows you how to create […]

How does she do it? Judee Nuechter creates bold, intricate jewelry that is considered art as much as jewelry. Beads, stones, and charms create pieces that are beautiful and have unique, story-telling properties. During this demo, Judee will explain her process and materials, as well as demonstrate how she accomplishes the intricate beading technique that […]