Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West

Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West is located in Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona on the former site of the Loloma Transit Station (N Marshall Way and E 1st St), and opened in January 2015. The two-story, 43,000-square-foot museum features the art, culture and history of 19 states in the American West, including Arizona. According to museum Director Mike Fox, “We are not a museum of objects, but a museum of ideas.”OverviewOriginally the vision of Herb Drinkwater (1936-97), Mayor of Scottsdale from 1980-96, the museum is owned by the city of Scottsdale and operated by a nonprofit called Scottsdale Museum of the West. The architectural firm Studio MA, based in Clifton NJ and Phoenix, designed the museum, landscape architects Colwell Shelor of Phoenix the surroundings. Built at a cost of $11.4 million, both interior and exterior spaces are LEED Gold Standard certified.The building houses eight exhibit spaces, a 135 seat multi-sensory and multimedia theater/auditorium, a gift shop and a sculpture courtyard. Heritage Hall presents photos and bios of influential Westerners such as Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, Billy the Kid, notorious thief and gunfighter, and numerous others.