Then, we thought this sculpture clearly signaled that our building was an art museum, not the Treasury Building or the Federal Mint.

We thought it was good to use an image identified with part of America other than New York or Washington, or any place on the East Coast. After all, we are a national museum, and this is a role we take seriously.

As for saying "American" in a single image, what would work better than a cowboy? But by using a Mexican-American cowboy, we could also show that we know the original cowboys and their culture came from Mexico. After all, that's why we speak of lariats, corrals, chaparrals, and locoweed. Finally, it seemed about right to feature the work of a living, contemporary artist at our front door. This vaquero sculpture is by Luis Jimenez.

Pictured: Luis Jimenez, Vaquero, modeled 1980/cast 1990; acrylic urethane, fiberglass, steel armature, 199 x 114 x 67 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of Judith and Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Anne and Ronald Abramson, Thelma and Melvin Lenkin.

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