The Great American West--a place familiar yet exotic, one that symbolizes the American spirit and character. What defines the West? The splendidly varied works of the Rockwell Museum of Western Art in Corning, New York, prove that there is not one West, but many. The American West presents highlights of the museum's collection of western and Native American art--truly the best of the West in the East.Founded in 1976 by Robert Rockwell, the Rockwell Museum housed and exhibited fine collections of western art, Carder glass, guns, and antique toys. In 2000 the board of trustees decided to reinvent the museum, focusing and building on its collections of western and Native American art. In 2001, it reopened as The Rockwell Museum of Western Art.In The American West, readers can view this vast and diverse region through the eyes of such artists as John Woodhouse Audubon, Emil Bisttram, Blackbear Bosin, John Ford Clymer, Charles Marion Russell, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Andy Warhol, Newell Convers Wyeth, and many more. Suzan Campbell's historical analysis sets each piece in context, and quotes from writers and artists enrich our experience of the collection's many visions of the West.

Kathleen E. Ash-Milby, Navajo, is a curator of contemporary Native American art. She is currently the curator and co-director of the American Indian Community House (AICH) Gallery in New York City and also works on independent projects with various institutions. She earned her Master of Arts from the University of New Mexico in Native American art history in 1994 and joined the curatorial department of the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution in 1993 where she worked until 1999. She assisted with acquisitions and exhibition development at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art in Corning, New York and was a New York State Council on the Arts panelist. Ash-Milby is the Vice President of the Native American Art Studies Association (NAASA) and has served on the board since 1997.

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