Mission and Vision

Mission
The Brinton Museum connects people to the past, present, and future of the American West through its historic Quarter Circle Ă Ranch, Fine Art, and American Indian Art Collections.

Vision
Enriching connections to the land, people and cultures of the West.

History & Context
The Brinton Museum was established as an institution dedicated to  American Indian art and culture, as well as to American fine and decorative art. It is our desire to continue and expand upon the work of Helen Brinton, who in 1960 established an institution named after her brother Bradford. Helen’s intent was to preserve the Quarter Circle Ă Ranch and the Brintons’ collection of fine art, furnishings, historic and American Indian artifacts and make them accessible to the public. It was her desire that the institution be a source of education and enjoyment to all visitors.

Land Acknowledgment Statement
The Brinton Museum stands upon the original lands of the Apsáalooke, Cheyenne, both Tsitsistas and So’taeo’a, Lakota and Arapaho People.

These indigenous Nations continue to retain their intimate relationship to these lands in their traditions, recollections, prayers and in the offering of their traditional sacred ceremonies. They hold fast to their traditional belief that they are holy nations, their land sacred.

Thus The Brinton Museum expresses acknowledgment of the original Apsáalooke, Tsistsistas and So’taeo’o, Lakota and Arapaho occupation of the land on which this museum stands. At the same time the museum expresses its commitment to witness to the sacral nature of the cultures and beliefs of the Native Nations whose art and other creations are exhibited and protected by the museum.

Collecting Emphasis
The Brinton Museum aims to preserve, maintain and interpret the former Bradford Brinton Memorial’s holdings (including the land), while collecting work which expands, augments and enhances this collection. We wish to reinforce the early Native Americans’ recognition of the inherent beauty and spirituality of this area. Collecting emphasis is placed on Native American arts and crafts as well as fine and decorative art relating to the late 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. An emphasis is placed on art and artists who depicted the West during those periods. We seek to carry on Bradford Brinton’s tradition of promoting local artists of high artistic achievement while placing a special emphasis upon being first and foremost a teaching institution.