The intention of the Trail’s End Western Art Show is to exhibit art which draws inspiration from the American West and can include both historic and contemporary themes and imagery. In the 19th century, Sedalia, Missouri was known as the Trail’s End or last stop for the cowboys and wranglers who worked the great western cattle drives which brought beef to the railhead and thence to markets in the east. Without the railroad there would have been no Sedalia, but the area is also rich in pioneer and Native American history. Missouri was the starting point for the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, the Emigrant Trail, and the Westward movement beginning in the 1850s. Today, Sedalia has a Trail’s End Monument at the junction of south Highway 65 and 16th Street which celebrates this history. This art exhibit will be a contemporary reflection of Sedalia’s history, the indomitable spirit of the cowboy, the legend of the cattle drives, and the beauty of the landscape.
