PUEBLO, Colo. – On Thursday, the PBR announced its partnership with the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in creating a PBR Hall of Fame, and that the museum will be hosting the PBR Heroes and Legends celebration next year.

But what exactly is the National Cowboy and Western Museum?

According to its website, it’s America’s premier institution of Western history, art and culture. Founded in 1955, the museum collects, preserves and exhibits an internationally renowned collection of Western art and artifacts while sponsoring dynamic educational programs to stimulate interest in the enduring legacy of the American West.

The museum features classic and contemporary Western art, and the exhibition wing houses a turn-of-the-century town and interactive history galleries that focus on the American cowboy, rodeos, Native American culture, Victorian firearms, frontier military and Western performers.

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Want to learn about tequila? There’s an exhibition for that. Cowboy hats? That too. And if you’ve ever wanted to walk through an exhibit called “You Have Died of Dysentery,” well, we have some great news for you.

The PBR Hall of Fame joins the museum’s three other Hall of Fames – the Hall of Great Westerners, which recognizes cowboys; the Hall of Great Western Performers, which recognizes those who have perpetuated the American West in TV, film and stage works; and the Rodeo Hall of Fame, which recognizes rodeo cowboys.

The PBR Hall of Fame will be unveiled in Spring 2023 in the American Rodeo Gallery, with an expansion planned soon after as part of a major reconstruction and reimagining of the Gallery.

The plans to construct the organization’s Hall of Fame mark the first effort to collect and exhibit artifacts from throughout the sport’s storied history in a compelling and unified format.

The PBR Hall of Fame will include artifacts that pay homage to both the early days of the organization as well as more modern initiatives, including the PBR Team Series.

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Relics that museumgoers can expect to see when the PBR Hall of Fame opens include the PBR Bud Light Cup, the original PBR World Championship trophy that features the names of the first nine PBR World Champions, commemorative paintings of legendary riders and bovine athletes, historical event posters, and more.

“From its beginning, our institution has honored and celebrated rodeo athletes, and we’re thrilled to expand on this tradition as the new permanent home of the PBR Hall of Fame,” said Natalie Shirley, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum President & CEO. “PBR represents one of the fastest-growing sports in America, and we look forward to telling the story of their rich history and exciting future for generations to come.”

For more about the museum, visit nationalcowboymuseum.org.

Photo courtesy of Richard T. Clifton