Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art facts for kids
| Established | 1974 |
|---|---|
| Location | 6055 Longbow Dr Boulder, Colorado (United States) |
| Type | Art museum |
The Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art was a special art museum located in Boulder, Colorado. It displayed a large collection of art owned by Ed Trumble. He was the founder of Leanin' Tree, a company that has been making beautiful fine art greeting cards since 1949. The museum's collection also included amazing American western art from over five decades. The museum closed its doors forever on August 31, 2017. The gift shop, which was part of the museum, stayed open until 2024. That's when Leanin' Tree's main production moved to a different town called Mead, Colorado.
Contents
The Story Behind the Museum
Have you ever wondered how a museum of Western art came to be? It all started with a simple idea and a love for the American West.
Cowboy Christmas Cards
The very first cowboy Christmas card was created a long time ago by a famous artist named Charles M. Russell. He lived in Montana. About 50 years later, a student named Robert R. Lorenz started selling his own cowboy Christmas card designs. He sold them at bookstores in Fort Collins, Colorado, delivering them on his bicycle!
A Friendship and a Business
In 1949, Ed Trumble met Robert Lorenz. Both were young veterans from a war, and they quickly became good friends. Ed Trumble had grown up on a cattle farm in Nebraska. He worked for a magazine called Western Live Stock. Both Ed and Robert loved the cowboy West.
They decided to start a business together with just a handshake. They called their company "The Lazy RL Ranch." Robert designed four Christmas cards. Ed then sold them through a small ad in the magazine. They were surprised by how many orders they received right away!
Building an Art Collection
Over the years, Ed Trumble traveled all over the West. He was looking for new paintings to publish on his greeting cards. He met almost every Western artist of that time. This made him very interested in collecting their artwork.
Sadly, his partner Robert Lorenz passed away in 1965. Robert's dream of owning a real ranch in Wyoming never came true. Ed Trumble continued the greeting card business on his own. He renamed it "Leanin' Tree." The company grew a lot over the years. All this time, Ed was also building a wonderful collection of American Western art created after 1950.
Opening the Museum
In 1974, Ed Trumble opened a small public art display area. It was part of a new building for his company. Twenty-five years later, the Leanin' Tree Museum had grown much bigger. It displayed 250 major paintings and 150 important bronze sculptures. It was a fantastic place to see art from the American West!
