The Brinton Museum was established as an institution dedicated to American Indian art and culture, as well as to American fine and decorative art.
The museum preserves, maintains and makes accessible to the public the former Quarter Circle Ă Ranch (including the land), and the Brintons’ collection of fine art, furnishings, historic and American Indian artifacts, while collecting work which augments and enhances this collection. Collecting emphasis is placed on American Indian arts and crafts as well as fine and decorative art relating to the late 19th, 20th and 21st centuries -- in particular, art and artists who depicted the West during those periods.
The Brinton Museum, located on the 620-acre historic Quarter Circle A Ranch in Big Horn, offers an authentic view into the life and lifestyle of a Western gentleman and art collector who was a patron and friend of many of the most celebrated 19th- and 20th-century Western artists.
In addition, a new 24,000-square-foot, eco-conscious building houses one of the most significant and extensive Western and American Indian Art collections in the Rocky Mountain West. Five times the size of the former museum, The Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Building includes three floors featuring four galleries, a museum store, and the Brinton Bistro, which offers indoor and outdoor dining with picturesque, 180-degree views of the Bighorn Mountains.