Santa Fe Trail Association Symposium 2023

Symposium 2023 Theme Announced
The Santa Fe Trail Association is pleased to present Symposium 2023:
“Art and the Trail: How Artists Recorded the History and Culture of an Era.” Hosted by the Missouri River Outfitters Chapter, the event is being planned for September 27-30, 2023 in Independence, MO.
The 2023 SFTA Symposium theme is “Art of the Trail” and the symposium headquarters will be at the Hilton Garden Inn in Independence, MO. All speakers and meals will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn. A block of rooms has been reserved, which includes daily hot breakfast. The dates are September 27-30, 2023 with the SFTA Board Meeting September 27. Each day will begin with speaker presentations during the mornings, followed by afternoon bus tours. Evening events are planned at the symposium hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn. All meals will be provided by the Hereford House, a renowned steakhouse and eatery in the area. Attendees will be treated to a stellar array of nationally known experts, both as speakers and bus tour guides. Tours will feature Fort Leavenworth, Fort Osage, and Truman and the Trails and the unique art and handiworks of these historic sites, from statues, to wagonmaking, to fort building, to artwork of a former President! Speaker presentations will focus on cowboy and western art, Native American art, trail music, the art of the factory system in the lands of the Osage and Kaw, frontier artists in Missouri and so much more.

This is a Symposium you will want to attend, and the Missouri River Outfitters Chapter will be your gracious hosts! The artwork featured is one of twelve murals painted by Edward Holslag that are located at the Savoy at 21c Restaurant and Bar, 219 W 9th St, Kansas City, MO. In 1903, Edward Holslag painted 12 murals around the wall of the Savoy Grill illustrating the pioneer’s hazardous trek along the Santa Fe Trail from Westport Landing to Santa Fe, NM. The Savoy Hotel was originally constructed between 1890 and 1906. It is currently owned by 21C Museum Hotels, LLC based in Louisville, KY and is operated as a boutique “museum hotel.” The hotel features more than 6,200-square-feet of contemporary art exhibition space, where hotel guests and the public can receive guided tours of the curated art and site specific installations. The Savoy, a 125-seat restaurant and bar preserved the murals painted in 1903 by Edward Holslag, which are catalogued in the Smithsonian Institution’s “Bicentennial Inventory of American Paintings.