Briscoe Western Art Museum
San Antonio, United States
Briscoe Western Art Museum
Downtown San Antonio is the central business district of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It also serves as the urban core of Greater San Antonio, a metropolitan area with nearly 2.5 million people. In addition to being encircled by Loops 1604 and 410, Downtown San Antonio is encircled by three Interstate freeways: I-35, I-37, and I-10. Together, the three highways create a rectangular route around the city's urban core: I-35 to the north and west, I-37 to the east, and I-10 to the south. The rectangular loop has a nine-mile circumference and is known as the "Downtown Loop" or "Central Loop", which encompasses both it and Southtown.
Downtown is home to many districts including the Alamo District, Alamodome District, Arsenal, Central Business District, Convention Center District, Historic Civic District, Houston Street District, Lavaca District, La Villita District, Market Square District, North Downtown, River North District, Zona cultural, San Antonio CO-OP district, River Bend District, King William Historic District, South Flores Warehouse District, SoSo (South of Southtown), Southtown Arts District, Eastbourough, and the University District. The northwestern corner of Downtown is the Medical District.
Accommodations near Briscoe Western Art Museum
Hotel Contessa -Suites on the Riverwalk
see price.
Nearby Tours & Activities
Opening times
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Thursday | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Friday | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Saturday | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Sunday | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
Guests' reviews
Found by accident and it was one of the highlights of our visit to San Antonio! The architectural detail of the building alone is worth seeing. That ceiling in the lobby is just marvelous! The art collection is wonderful and honors different cultures that have called Texas "home". Many of the bronze statues are outside of the museum and can be viewed at no charge. A display of Student art was on view while we were there, what a talented group of students!! We highly recommend this museum!
We were walking the river walk and it was humid. We saw the museum and intended to go in to the gift shop to look around and get some A/C. Somehow we got free admission and it was a great time. Lots of interesting displays to be seen. We didn’t end up getting to go into the gift shop because they were doing inventory that day. It would have been nice if they were able to inventory on their normally scheduled closed day (Tuesday, maybe?).
Beautiful place for a wedding! Set in historic downtown SA overlooking the river. The spacious open courtyard adjacent to the ballroom is picturesque. The entire area is very classy!!!
The museum isn't very big but the collection they have is the best Western Art I've seen. Lovely artwork, objects and sculptures. They offer free admission one night a week.
Wonderful use of space. There were many high quality paintings, sculptures and historical artifacts that would be of interest to cowboy lovers and history buffs alike. Several styles and themes are available to enjoy, so don't let the Western aspect be a deterrent; it did not feel like a limitation at all. Great location to visit if you want to add something a little different when you're cruising around the riverwalk and downtown. Walking distance to the Alamo, Rivercenter Mall and San Fernando Cathedral. Would be a welcome and quiet break from the elements at the very least. The location is cozy and intimate without feeling small. Well worth the admission price.
I enjoyed the museum. Beautiful building and location on the river walk. There just isn't that much art. I think "Briscoe Western Museum" would be a more appropriate name. This museum is three levels of interesting Western history , displays, and reproduction, but again, I didn't find as many quality original Western works of art as I was expecting. At least I continue my streak of being somewhat underwhelmed by anything touching the Riverwalk. Now I realize it extends to more than just restaurants. If you love the wild-west, pioneer, cowboys and Indians culture and recent history, this place can be a quick interesting visit, but if you love Western art; let me know where to find some.
Wonderful museum full of lots of beautiful paintings and artifacts that articulate San Antonio's rich history well. The staff was nice and helpful, the experience overall was pleasant, not to mention the lovely aesthetic of the building itself. Fun to go with friends or family while out on the river walk. I'll be back!!!
THIS is one of our favorites museums! Great activities for the whole family. Amazingly informed tour guides. Jenny and Shane are the best! Our favorite works are from Billy Schenk - he mixes pop with western art.
Racial profiling at its finest! Will not be returning anytime soon, our family has never been so offended. The blatantly racist management at Briscoe Western Art Museum couldn't make us feel anymore uneasy, we were followed by staff our entire trip and when asked to speak to a super visor were approached by a very aggressive man with a temperament issue. The entire staff were obviously very intimidated by him and no apology was issued out by this individual. A Latino family cant enjoying a beautiful evening with out these kinds of ignorant people in our communities.
Amazing artifacts very well kept of mostly Mexican history of the Enrique E. Guerra collection. All the bronze sculptures are gorgeous. The location of the museum is great and it was part of our River walk visit.
Great museum of Western art. The museum also host events and special events like movies and talks on Tuesdays. Admission is normally $10, but is free on Tuesdays between 4pm and 9pm. There are also some displays and artifacts from early days of San Antonio and Texas. I highly recommend a visit to this museum.
Wow. Really great place to view some pretty incredible artifacts. We really enjoyed our time there. It's not a big museum, which I actually enjoyed cause it wasn't crowded and we could take our time to view everything.
Cool Warhol exhibit. Beautiful and intricate pieces of Western collections. Loved the wall of spurs. Definitely will be back!!
Very friendly staff. The exhibits were incredible! It was a lot of fun to look back into the past at a life very few live. The interactive videos are fun for all ages. The variety of saddles were so cool to see! I would love to see a bit more Native American there to round out the west. The model of the Alamo is pretty intense and very well done.
A nice mix of history and art. We went with the Warhol exist on Cowboys and Indian prints being displayed which is one of his first sets of screen print pop culture icon prints. The history and displays throuout the rest of the beautiful building are great examples of western art and history. There are a few reproductions but no more than other museums.
Must visit this museum to get a good idea of Texas history. The paintings, exhibits, weapons and other artefacts displayed are unique. Some videos are also available to give a realistic view of things
Beautiful museum with some great western art and history exhibits. I really enjoyed exhibits on the third floor; the saddle and spur collections in particular. Museum staff recommends starting from the 3rd fl. and working your way down. Admission is $10 and worth it. I wish I had been able to spend more time at the Briscoe but will definitely return.
Visited here on a day where it was both free to get in and they had an Andy Warhol exhibit. The museum featured many great classical western exhibits including western wear, rifles and pistols, saddles, and paintings. The Andy Warhol exhibit featured about a dozen western themed examples of his artwork.
