Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, Regional art museum in Old Town Scottsdale, United States.

Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West is a two-story, 55,000-square-foot building in Old Town Scottsdale, on the former site of the Loloma Transit Station. Architects Christiana Moss and Christopher Alt of Studio MA designed it, with concrete ribbing on the exterior that mimics saguaro cactus ribs and provides vertical shade. A courtyard "weeping wall" collects rainwater and air-conditioning condensation for the grounds, and Western red cedar lines the lobby.

Conceived by former Scottsdale mayor Herb Drinkwater, who served from 1980 to 1996, the museum broke ground on January 20, 2014, and opened in January 2015 on the former site of the Loloma Transit Station. The City of Scottsdale owns it, and the non-profit Scottsdale Museum of the West, incorporated in 2007, operates it. It has been a Smithsonian Affiliate since 2015.

The collections tell stories about how people in this region have expressed themselves through art and craft over time. You can see how Native American artisans and Western artists depicted the land and their way of life.

The museum is located in Old Town, a walkable area with shops and dining options nearby, making it easy to combine a visit with other activities. The interior is accessible and well-organized for visitors to move through the galleries at their own pace.

The museum holds rare objects from private collections that are not commonly displayed elsewhere. These pieces reveal personal passions of collectors who devoted themselves to preserving pieces of Western history.