A bronze sculpture of Buffalo Bill Cody awaits your arrival at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg. Image by Tom Adkinson

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A life-sized bronze statue of Buffalo Bill Cody perches on a bench as the permanent greeter at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art in downtown St. Petersburg, just waiting for you to sit with him and take a selfie.

Two museum visitors pause to study the intricacies of a large and complex painting from the American West. Image by Tom Adkinson

At first glance, Buffalo Bill Cody and the expansive museum behind him seem as out of place in Florida as does the city’s other famous art destination, the Dalí Museum for the works of Salvador Dalí. Quick research explains that both museums are here for the same reason – the people who collected the art are Floridians, and they wanted to establish institutions for their community.

In the case of the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art, the collectors are Tom and Mary James. Tom James is chairman emeritus of Raymond James Financial, and much of the museum’s art once decorated offices at the financial institution. One museum employee said she gets a kick when a Raymond James retiree tours the museum with friends, points to a particularly impressive painting, and says, “That used to hang in my office.”

Artist John Coleman based this series of tribal leaders on images made by explorer-artists Karl Bodmer and George Catlin in the 1830s. Image by Tom Adkinson

The entire museum is an art piece itself. It is an adaptive reuse of a 1980s office building and parking structure that transports you from coastal Florida to the American West. Buffalo Bill Cody’s bench is at the base of a 9-story sandstone mesa that leads to a two-story “arroyo” (canyon) inside. At the back of the arroyo is a reflecting pool and a gently flowing waterfall accented by a sculpture of a newlywed Native American couple on horseback. The scene is from the annual Crow Fair Parade in the Crow Agency in Montana in the early 1900s.

All of this sets the stage for multiple galleries that explore various aspects of the American West and its stories – the land itself, the indigenous populations, the Euro-American explorers, the cowboys, the gold miners, the Chinese railroad builders, and more. Pieces range from realistic to abstract to decorative, such as the intricate necklaces, pendants, and bolo clasps in a gallery called the Jewel Box.

This piece – made of gold, coral, gaspeite, and lapis – in the Jewel Box Gallery represents Monument Valley in the Navajo Nation. Image by Tom Adkinson

While many lovers of Western art know names such as Remington, Russell, and Bierstadt, the James Museum’s focus is on art from more recent times. Museum literature explains that Tom and Mary James have a passion for supporting living artists, and a careful examination of one piece tells how their interest began.

The placard beside an oil painting titled “Winter Sunrise Circle of the Big Sky People” explains that this was the piece that set Tom and Mary James on their path to serious collecting in 1985. The work was by Crow artist Earl Bliss, and the paint wasn’t even dry when the purchase was made. The experience sparked their interest in learning more about native cultures and supporting artists through acquisitions.

Clouds of dust take the shape of charging bison behind a regiment of Buffalo Soldiers at full gallop. Image by Tom Adkinson

Each piece tells a story, and some have multiple layers. For instance, consider “Called to Duty,” a boldly colorful depiction of a regiment of Buffalo Soldiers at full gallop across a dusty landscape. Brown clouds rise behind them, and close examination shows that the clouds are massive buffalo looming over the soldiers. The deeper story is that Buffalo Soldiers were Black veterans of the Civil War who served their country on the Western frontier while continuing to face prejudice in a changed society.

“Winter Sunrise Circle of the Big Sky People” was the painting that inspired Tom and Mary James to begin collecting Western art. Image by Tom Adkinson

In another gallery, more stories unfold in a series of Native American sculptures created by John Coleman in the early 2000s. The people depicted were tribal leaders in the 1830s whose images were preserved by explorer-artists Karl Bodmer and George Catlin. The bronze sculptures are paired with the two-dimensional renderings by Bodmer and Catlin, showing how artistic inspiration can transcend centuries.

Trip-planning resources:
TheJamesMuseum.org and VisitStPeteClearwater.com

(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available at Amazon.com.