The event, which will include tours of the museum galleries and a wine and cheese reception, will be held in conjunction with “An Evening With Mort Kunstler,” which begins at 7 p.m. at the Grand Theatre, one block from the museum.
“We’re excited to partner with the Booth to provide a special introduction to this new museum for the Rome community,” said RACA executive director Allen Bell.
“It should be a fun night, especially for people who are fans of Western or Civil War art.”
Reservations for the reception are $10 per person; admission to the Kunstler presentation is an additional $15.
Mort Kunstler’s work appears in the Booth’s Western and Civil War collections.
The critically acclaimed historical artist will discuss his artwork, historical research and demonstrate some of his techniques.
Financed by a private foundation of local art collectors, the Booth was conceived in the summer of 2000 as a place to share their treasures with a wider public.
The museum is named in honor of Sam Booth, an Atlanta businessman and friend of the donors.
The 80,000 square foot facility — designed, according to museum director Seth Hopkins, to suggest a “modern pueblo” — opened to the public on Aug. 23.
It features a premiere collection of contemporary Western American art and galleries devoted to Western illustration, presidential manuscript letters and portraits, Western movie posters and contemporary Civil War art.
The museum also has a 140-seat presentation theater, café, museum store, member’s lounge and a 60-seat multimedia theater where the award-winning documentary “The American West” is screened every 20 minutes.
With the possible exception of the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians in Indianapolis or the western-themed Rockwell Museum in Corning, N.Y., Hopkins is unaware of anything comparable to the Booth in scope and ambition east of the Mississippi.
“It’s very much a regional facility,” said Hopkins.
“There’s really nothing like it in the Southeast.”
The Booth Western Art Museum is located at 501 Museum Drive. For more information or to make reservations call RACA at 295-2787
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