Welcome to the Harlin!

  The Harlin Museum is dedicated to the preservation of the Ozarks rich cultural heritage and to the patronage of our innovative modern local art scene.

We house items of cultural and historical interest significant to the area known as the Ozarks, which is located in the topographical region of the North American United States known as the Ozark Plateau. We also host a variety of competitive art shows, special historical exhibits, artisan workshops, and community events throughout the calendar year.

The Harlin Museum is located in West Plains, Missouri, a town in central southern Missouri known for its small-town charm, Historic Courthouse Square district, the nearby Ozark National Scenic Riverways, and the Mark Twain National Forest park system. 

The museum’s collection includes:

• the Lennis L. Broadfoot collection; the most complete collection of art by the accomplished Shannon County, MO artist. Broadfoot is best known as the artist who immortalized the often enigmatic people, places, and traditions of the turn-of-the-century Ozarks region, in multiple mediums, while also offering a first-hand narrative in the writings that frequently accompanied his works.
• artifacts of the area’s early settlers including a buckboard wagon w/ original harnesses and saddles sold at the Aid’s Hardware on West Plains’ Historic Downtown Square, 
• items significant to the area’s original Native American tribes 
• military artifacts from WWI & the American Civil War; art depicting local skirmishes & photographs of local militia units
• objects that survived the mysterious & tragic West Plains Dance Hall Explosion of 1928 and original newspaper coverage of the event
• displays honoring area celebrities such as Missouri Sports Hall of Fame baseball player Preacher Roe, Country Music Hall of Fame’s singer/songwriter Porter Wagoner, and Grand Ole Opry star Jan Howard

2019 Calendar of Events:

January 2019 – Textile & Quilt Show Competition: “Telling A Story; The History of Quilting” 

February 2019 – High School Art Show Competition 

March 2019 – Digital Art Show Competition:  “Another World” 

April 2019 – Annual Spring Amateur Art Show Competition 

May 2019– Annual Photography Show Competition

June 2019 – Ozarks Heritage Festival Exhibition: History of the Ozarks & the L.L. Broadfoot Collection

July 2019 – Harlin Museum presents The Permanent Art Collection 

August 2019 – Welcome to the Wilderness: Hunting, Fishing, & Fur Trapping in the Pioneer Ozarks

August 29th – September 15th, 2019 – “The Sky’s The Limit” – A solo art show by Lee Copen 

September 19th – October 13th, 2019 – Harlin Museum’s 44th Annual Fall Art Show Competition

October 17th – Nov. 3rd, 2019 –“Friends – Creative Bond, Lifetime Journey” – Art by Vicki Lamb & Sheila Donley

November 7th – 24th, 2019 – Military Honors Exhibit: Soldiers of the Ozarks

December 19 – 30, 2019 (open every day, except 12/25) – Historic Ozarks Railways & Model Train Village

Take a look at our MUSEUM NEWS page for the most recent goings-on at the museum. Stop by the museum to browse items in our museum gift shop, including unique art, books, jewelry, & stationary gifts or souvenirs. The gift shop area is located on the ground floor of the Hathcock Gallery. And, remember, we also sell art! Competition show pieces listed for sale benefit both the artist and the museum, which keeps a small percentage of it’s artists’ sales for museum maintenance and operation. The museum is a non-profit entity supported entirely by public donations and the sale of artist wares.  If you would like to donate to the museum, please contact the docent desk at (417) 256-7801. Group tours are welcome; please contact the museum for more info.

#DiscoverYourOzarks #HarlinMuseum

You can also follow our Facebook Page for up-to-date museum info and art news at: https://www.facebook.com/HarlinMuseumWP/