To view photo images of works, scroll right on laptop or down on Iphone

Rough & Ready: A History of the Cowboy Boot Curator: Elizabeth Semmelhack. Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Ontario. (May 7, 2025 – October 7, 2026)

Upcoming Publication by Elizabeth Semmelhack – History of the Cowboy Boot (Available March 17, 2026).

The story of the cowboy boot is steeped in history and legend and is neither simple nor straightforward. Since their invention in the late nineteenth century, cowboy boots have embodied contradiction. They have symbolized labor and leisure, freedom and domination, tradition and reinvention. Cowboy boots were born out of industrialization yet refined through expert craftsmanship, they have been used to both celebrate individualism and forge cultural cohesion. They were central to the closing of the West, yet endure as emblems of freedom and wide-open spaces. Over time, cowboy boots have signaled power and privilege as well as resistance and reclamation. Whether worn in the saddle, on screen, or in the streets, cowboy boots remain a cultural touchstone, embodying both tradition and transformation in a constantly changing world.

Ace’s  Gwiiwzens Dreamed of Spirit Horses (2023) honours the legacy and revitalization of the Indigenous horse of North America. The Ojibwe Spirit Horse, also known as the Lac La Croix Pony, was driven to the point of extinction. In 1977 the four remaining mares were bred with Spanish Mustang stallions to preserve this critically endangered breed. The story of the Ojibwe Spirit Horse is a moving one, and also shares a tragic parallel colonial history with Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Gwiiwzens Dreamed of Spirit Horses is a sculptural assemblage work consisting of a found pair of children’s cowboy boots that Ace embellished with his signature electronic component and glass bead medicine flower motifs. The small boots rest on top of two vintage stylized galloping silver horse cobbler shoe rests. The wire fringe extending out from the back of the boots reference the erasure of the Ojibwe Spirit Horses and public awareness of the brutal colonial history that attempted to eradicate them. The title of the work implies an element of optimism for the future, as Gwiiwzens (the young boy) dreamed of the return of these Spirit Horses.

For more information on the Ojibwe Spirit Horse:

Canadian Geographic: Ojibway spirit horses gallop into view

CBC: Ojibwe horses are endangered, but a few Canadian ranches are determined to keep them alive

Horse Canada: Ojibwe Spirit Horses: Not Tools But Teachers

Horse Canada: Ojibwe Spirit Horses Return Home

Horse Canada: Hey Baby! Ojibwe Spirit Horse Foal a Welcome Arrival

CBC: How a Manitoulin Island social worker is helping people heal from trauma working with ‘spirit horses’

Apt 613: Review: The Spirit Horse Returns at the NAC tells the story of a nearly-lost species

Press for Rough and Ready: A History of the Cowboy Boot

Now: Saddle Up: The Bata Shoe Museum celebrates 30 years with bold, new cowboy boot exhibit

Fashion Magazine: The Bata Shoe Museum’s Latest Exhibition is a Love Letter to Cowboy Boots

Toronto Star: Shinan Govani: This singular Toronto museum marked its 30th year with a cowboy-themed hoedown

The Kit: The Must-Visit Exhibit of the Season Is All About the Wild West