"We are honored to celebrate Bill Gollings by focusing on rarely seen loans from private collections in Sheridan and beyond," Jochen Wierich, Curatorial Director at The Brinton Museum, told Sheridan Media when William Gollings: Collected Treasures was announced in August.
Most of the paintings, etchings and drawings now hanging in Big Horn belong to private collectors, and the exhibition that brought them together ends December 21. Three other exhibitions close the same day. On December 22 the museum closes until mid-February. Today is October 12, so that leaves exactly ten weeks. The Brinton is open Thursday through Monday, which works out to about fifty open days before any holiday closures.
Why December 21 Breaks the Galleries Apart
The museum's exhibition listing shows four things on view, and all of them end on the same date:
- William Gollings: Collected Treasures, August 14 to December 21
- The Small Works Show, September 26 to December 21
- To Honor the Plains Nations, February 5 to December 21
- The Ted and Katie Meredith Gallery of Western Art, February 5 to December 21
The two newest shows are also the two that can't easily be put back together. Sheridan Media reported that the Gollings exhibition is built mostly from private-collection works "that have rarely if ever been shown at The Brinton Museum," with a few pieces from the museum's own collection added. Every piece in The Small Works Show is for sale. It features invited artists from Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West, among them Neta Old Elk, Adam Jahiel and Kathryn Mapes Turner. One show depends on borrowed work, and the other is entirely for sale. Neither one is likely to come back together in the same form once it closes.
The show has some history behind it. Gollings belongs to The Brinton's 2026 theme, "Our Legends," and the museum describes him as one of Bradford Brinton's important artist-patrons. In other words, a museum that grew out of one collector's ranch has borrowed back from Sheridan's private collections an artist that collector supported.
What Gollings Painted, and Why It Reads as Local
Elling William "Bill" Gollings lived from 1878 to 1932. According to Sheridan Media, he first saw the West as a boy in the 1880s, spent a decade in school and working in Chicago, and came back in the 1890s. He then made his living as a cowboy for at least five years. He herded and branded cattle in summer and took odd jobs in winter. He worked near the Northern Cheyenne Reservation and became friends with Cheyenne people there.
He later moved to Sheridan and set up his studio there. He chose to paint the older West, before railroads, mining and homesteading changed it. The exhibition is organized around his ties to the region and his scenes of ranch life, Native Americans and working animals, set on the open range of southern Montana and northern Wyoming. For anyone who drives Brinton Road regularly, that's the country just north of home.
Sheridan Media names two works to look for:
- Travois in the Snow, 1914, credited to The Brinton Museum
- Bad Actor, also titled Hanging it to Him, 1915, credited to the Whitney Benefits Foundation
The exhibition gallery is the only place to see Gollings this season. The historic Quarter Circle A Ranch House keeps its original furnishings and art where Brinton placed them, including works by Gollings, Remington, Russell, Borein, Kleiber and Audubon. The museum's published 2026 schedule for $10 ranch house tours ended September 27, however, and no fall or winter tour dates are listed.
The Program Calendar Ends Before the Galleries Do
The museum's December calendar lists the four exhibitions and no special events, so the last scheduled program is November 19. Here is what remains, in order:
- Thursday, October 15. The Father Powell Distinguished Lecture. Gaylord Torrence discusses symbolism in Plains Indian art, including war shirts and muslin paintings. Free and open to the public.
- Saturday, October 17, 9 to 11 a.m. Birding at The Brinton. Free and open to all levels. Meet in the museum parking lot.
- Thursday, October 22, 10:30 a.m. to noon. Jentel Presents, with visual art, readings and musical compositions by current residents of the Jentel artist residency. Free.
- Saturday, October 24, 3 to 6 p.m. The Haunted Ranch, with trick-or-treat stops, a haunted saddle barn and a creepy-crawly display from Science Kids.
- Saturday, November 7. A beadwork demonstration by Neta Old Elk for members from 10 to 11 a.m., RSVP requested, followed by a free public pop-up shop from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Friday, November 13, 5 to 8 p.m. Fall into Art: A Far View, on the history of the Willits and Garber families in the Little Goose Valley. A ticketed dinner follows, and the museum hasn't yet posted the price or ticket details.
- Thursday, November 19, 10:30 a.m. to noon. A second Jentel Presents session. Free.
October 9 has already passed. That evening, Michael Grauer's Fall into Art talk placed Gollings among working cowboys who became artists, and the dinner sold out. The last month before the closure will be gallery time only.
Where the Programs and Galleries Meet
Several programs on that list tie directly to work on the walls, so a visit can cover both.
Torrence and the Plains Nations gallery. To Honor the Plains Nations hangs in the John and Adrienne Mars Gallery of American Indian Art. It includes pre- and post-reservation objects such as an 1899 muslin painting by Stephen Standing Bear and a Blackfeet war chief's shirt and leggings. Those are the same forms Torrence will discuss on October 15. Both the gallery and the lecture end this year. The gallery has been up since February 5.
Old Elk and the Small Works Show. Neta Old Elk is one of the invited artists in The Small Works Show, and she is also the November 7 demonstrator. Since the show is for sale, how much of her work is still on display that day depends on what has sold by then.
A Far View and the valley outside. Gollings painted the range around the Wyoming–Montana border. The November 13 program narrows the focus to two families in the Little Goose Valley, the same valley The Brinton's ranch sits in.
Getting There Before December 22
The Brinton is at 239 Brinton Road in Big Horn. Its fall and winter schedule is simple, with a few details that are easy to miss.
- Hours. Thursday through Monday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., through December 21. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
- Admission. Free for all visitors, supported in part by Austin and Janie Musselman and a private community-based donor.
- The Brinton Bistro. On the third floor of the Forrest E. Mars Jr. Building. Lunch is Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Brunch is Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m., and Sunday requires a reservation. The Bistro page gives a 2 p.m. brunch close, while the museum's hours page says 3 p.m., so it's best to check with the Bistro before planning a late brunch.
- Museum store. The store sells online at thebrintonmuseumstore.com, and county tourism says visitors can also shop in person. No separate in-person store hours are posted.
- Trails. The museum's guidance says the 0.7-mile mowed Brinton Nature Trail and the 2.4-mile primitive Quarter Circle A Nature Trail are open in late spring, summer and early fall. Visitors are asked to call ahead for conditions and check in at the front desk, and access later in the season isn't confirmed.
Mid-week visits are out because of the Tuesday and Wednesday closures, so that leaves Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays for quieter visits. Weekends book up with brunch and the remaining Saturday programs. The Brinton's final open weekend runs into Monday, December 21. Sheridan's Christmas Stroll on Main Street, Friday, November 27, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with fireworks at 8, falls about three weeks before that. For more on the town around the museum, see our Big Horn neighborhood guide and our look at the building on Johnson Street.
The museum's own calendar is the best place to check event updates, starting with the Gollings exhibition page and the hours page. The Brinton is a short drive from The Powder Horn. If friends or family come to visit before December 21, Powder Horn Realty can host them in one of our vacation rentals close enough for a Thursday morning in the Gollings gallery and lunch at the Bistro.
