Thomas Brent Smith with Tom Petrie and the book Once Upon a Time . . . The Western: A New Frontier in Art and Film

DAM Western American Art Curator Nominated for Two Literary Awards

Thomas Brent Smith, Director and Curator of the Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver Art Museum, could possibly receive two awards this year for the recently published exhibition companion, Once Upon a Time . . . The Western: A New Frontier in Art and Film. Smith, along with co-curator Mary-Dailey Desmarias from The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, envisioned the beautifully designed and illustrated, 304-page book for last summer’s popular DAM exhibition, The Western: An Epic in Art and Film.

On April 14, Smith was awarded the Western Heritage Award for best Art/Photography Book from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Since 1961, the Western Heritage Awards honor those whose works in literature, music, film, and television reflect the significant stories of the American West.

Once Upon a Time . . . is also a finalist for best Pictorial Book in the Colorado Book Awards—an annual program to celebrate the excellence of Colorado's authors, editors, illustrators, and photographers.

Don’t miss Smith read an excerpt from Once Upon a Time . . . Friday, May 4 at 7 pm at the BookBar. Colorado Book Award winners will be announced Saturday, June 2 at the Sie Film Center.

Images: Thomas Brent Smith with Tom Petrie at the Western Heritage Awards April 14, 2018. Mary Dailey Desmarais and Thomas Brent Smith, eds., Once Upon a Time . . . The Western: A New Frontier in Art and Film (Milan: Five Continents Editions, 2017)