The Amon Carter Museum of Western Art opened to the public in Fort Worth, Texas, establishing a purpose-built home for Amon G. Carter Sr.'s collection of works by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Designed by Philip Johnson, the building gave Fort Worth a nationally visible art institution at a moment when American regional collections were being reframed as serious museum subjects. The Carter's official history emphasizes that the museum began from Carter's wish for a public cultural resource, while later accounts document the exact public opening date as January 21, 1961. Although founded around western art, the museum soon broadened into American art more generally, adding photography, works on paper, and major nineteenth- and twentieth-century holdings.
The Carter became a major center for American art and photography rather than only a western art memorial.
