Western Folklife Center

The Western Folklife Center occupies a grand brick building on Railroad Street that was originally built as a hotel in 1913, during Elko's railroad boom. The center serves as the year-round headquarters of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering and operates an excellent gallery space dedicated to the folk arts and traditions of the American West.

The galleries rotate exhibitions on everything from saddle-making and rawhide braiding to cowboy music and the history of the open range. Even outside of January's big gathering, the center has a small but carefully curated permanent collection and frequently hosts performers, artists, and workshops. The gift shop is one of the better places in town to pick up books on Western history and Basque culture. Admission is free or by donation.

Address: 501 Railroad St, Elko, NV 89801. Web: westernfolklife.org

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A story
The Western Folklife Center is the institutional home of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, a week-long event held every January since 1985 that has drawn tens of thousands of working ranchers, poets, musicians, and storytellers from across the American West. The center was founded specifically to document and celebrate the living culture of working cowboys — not the Hollywood version but the actual people who still ride horses for a living. Its galleries mount rotating exhibitions on Western traditions ranging from buckaroo gear to Great Basin Indigenous art.

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