Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2024/No. 206 i Western Art Collector

Welcome to the October issue of Western Art Collector! This issue marks our publishing anniversary: four years ago, during the October issue, Adolfo Castillo and I purchased 25-year-old International Artist Publishing and its five art titles—Western Art Collector, Native American Art, American Fine Art Magazine, American Art Collector and our flagship publication, International Artist. Adolfo and I had known and worked with Vincent Miller, the founder and publisher, for 25-plus years prior, which prepared us for the exciting journey. Many things have grown over the past four years as we have focused on the importance of bringing you everything you need to help you collect art. To complement our magazines we added a podcast show, the American Art Collective, which debuted on March 30, 2021, with its first episode hosted…

Through November 17, 2024 Traditional Cowboy Arts Association Exhibition & Sale NATIONAL COWBOY & WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM  Oklahoma City, OK – (405) 478-2250  tcaa.nationalcowboymuseum.org Through November 30, 2024 64th Annual Art and the Animal Exhibition SIOUX CITY PUBLIC MUSEUM Sioux City, IA – (712) 279-6174 www.siouxcitymuseum.org Through December 31, 2024 Creating Common Memory  THE WESTMORELAND MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART Greensburg, PA – (724) 837-1500 www.thewestmoreland.org Through January 2025 Selling the Southwest MUSEUM OF NORTHERN ARIZONA  Flagstaff, AZ – (928) 774-5213 musnaz.org Through January 19, 2025 Icons & Symbols of the Borderland: Art from the U.S.-Mexico THE JAMES MUSEUM OF WESTERN & WILDLIFE ART St. Petersburg, FL – (727) 892-4200 www.thejamesmuseum.org Through June 8, 2025 The Horse in Art DESERT CABALLEROS WESTERN MUSEUM Wickenburg, AZ – (928) 684-2272 www.westernmuseum.org…

Roundup! Western Art News Denver’s contemporary-focused Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale is hitting the ground running as it gears up for events later this year and the big show in January 2025. The next show, the 32nd annual event, will feature more than 75 artists in the exhibit. “We are looking forward to the 2025 Coors Show and welcoming many new and returning artists to the show,” says curator Kate Hlavin. “This year is full of great change and only the start of what is to come. We have over 80 artists in the show from all over the country working many mediums all with a common theme of the West.” This year’s featured artist will be Colorado painter Duke Beardsley, whose use of Western iconography and repeated images…

The upcoming exhibition schedule for museums of the art of the American West is rich with surveys, individual artist presentations, and explorations into the intersection of art and science. Primary among the latter is Out of Site: Survey Science and the Hidden West at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles through January 5, 2005. The 90 works in the exhibition range from Carleton Watkins’ prints from 18-by-22-inch glassplate negatives in the 19th century to images from contemporary drones and satellites. Watkins’ photographs of mining operations in Nevada, 19th-century surveys and contemporary surveillance of weapons sites and military installations document intrusions into the western landscape that are often kept secret. One of the country’s eminent figures in the creation of land art, Charles Ross, is nearing the…

210 W. Market Street, San Antonio, TX 78205 • (210) 299-4499 • www.briscoemuseum.org The West starts at the Briscoe Western Art Museum, located on the banks of the iconic River Walk in the heart of downtown San Antonio, Texas. Bringing the vibrant culture and heritage of the American West to life through painting, sculpture, photography and historical relics, the Briscoe shares the stories of the Native American, vaquero, American cowboy, pioneering women, and the landscape and wildlife that define the American West. The museum features a wide range of artists including the canonical George Catlin, Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington and Fritz Scholder, and contemporary works from Mark Maggiori, Howard Terpning, John Coleman and Bonnie Marris. Together, the museum’s permanent collection, exhibitions and educational programs reflect the region’s rich history and…

2820 Rungius Road, Jackson, WY 83001 • (307) 733-5771 • info@wildlifeart.org • www.wildlifeart.org The National Museum of Wildlife Art was founded in 1987, and continues today as a world-class museum and nonprofit located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The museum’s collection boasts more than 5,000 artworks representing wild animals from around the world. Featured prominent artists include N.C. Wyeth, Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Ai Weiwei, Thomas Moran and Carl Rungius. The museum’s unsurpassed permanent collection chronicles much of the history of wildlife in art from 2500 B.C. to the present. Built into a hillside overlooking the National Elk Refuge, the museum received the designation “National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States” by order of Congress in 2008. In addition to the impressive galleries, the museum also includes a museum…

1550 Bandera Highway • Kerrville, TX 78028 (830) 896-2553 • www.museumofwesternart.com Overlooking the city of Kerrville, Texas, is the Museum of Western Art, designed by famed Texas architect O’Neil Ford. The 14,000 square feet of interior space honors the timeless mystique of the Old West with an impressive permanent collection of paintings and sculptures—created by renowned Western artists, past and present. Featured artists include Scott Christensen, Quang Ho, Jason Scull and Billy Schenck, among many others. In addition, the museum hosts its annual Roundup Exhibition & Sale. The event brings together top Western artists presenting original works of Western inspired art. Major Upcoming Exhibitions Al Glann: Poetry in Motion September 28-November 9, 2024 A South Texas Aesthetic: Paintings and Sculptures by Noe Perez and Jason Scull November 15, 2024-January 11,…

3830 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 686-9539 • www.westernspirit.org Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West is a premier cultural institution in Old Town Scottsdale dedicated to showcasing art and history spanning 19 states in the American West, Western Canada and Mexico. Within months of opening in January 2015, the museum qualified as a Smithsonian affiliate. The Western Spirit building consists of a two-story layout encompassing 43,000 square feet, showcasing collections that feature a diverse array of Western art and artifacts. They range from classic and contemporary paintings to sculptures, pottery, photography and historical objects. The museum’s exhibitions and programs aim to educate and inspire visitors by exploring the West’s rich and multi-faceted heritage. Notable artists featured have included Andy Warhol and Billy Schenck, Maynard Dixon, Edward S.…

The horse is an iconic symbol in Western art. For centuries, artists have found inspiration in the grace, raw power and free spirit of these beasts and the unique connection that humans have with them. Currently on view at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona, is the exhibition The Horse in Art, which draws historic and contemporary paintings, drawings and sculptures from the DCWM’s permanent collections and loaned material. The show is a tribute to the horse’s place in the American West—a figure ubiquitous with ranching life and cowboy culture at large. “The artwork featured in this exhibit serves as an artistic-historical framework, stimulating further thoughts and study of the horse’s significant role in America,” says DCWM curator Tricia Loscher. “In Western art, horses often take center stage…

Featuring 27 artists and more than 80 works of art—including large paintings, collages, neon, photography and sculptures—Icons & Symbols of the Borderland: Art from the U.S.-Mexico Crossroads explores the region’s unique cultural motifs with the aim to expand narratives about the American West. On view at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art through January 19, 2025, the exhibition features members of the JUNTOS Art Association. James Museum curator Caitlin Pendola says, “Exhibitions like this one, that study the collective identity of a region, are best experienced with an understanding that each work is significant and provides both an individual and shared perspective for viewers. Individually the artists and artworks provide insight into personal stories and ideas, but collectively they contextualize the borderland and offer a glimpse of the…

On October 4, Manitou Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will present new work from modernist painter Alvin Gill-Tapia. The show will feature a collection of new paintings that exemplify his modern compositions and color, as well as his use of gold, copper and silver leaf, which make his paintings shimmer under even the faintest light. The show, titled Gilded Structures, will feature primarily historic buildings in Northern New Mexico, including the Taos Pueblo and the famous San Francisco de Asís Mission Church. The artist explains how his first love in the art world was Native American pottery, which helps explain the tactile nature of his work, with its smooth surfaces and textures that combine acrylic paint with foil leaf. “I was always in love with Indigenous pottery. It goes…

Gregory Frank Harris creates land-scapes, abstracts and figurative works with equal facility, sliding between a more traditional, painterly style and a modernist aesthetic; and between mediums and tools. But Harris is not only multitalented when it comes to painting. By age 5, he was drawing and sculpting, and at 8, he began to sing and play the piano by ear. After studying art and theater at California’s Long Beach University, Harris began playing gigs in nightclubs up and down the West Coast. While on tour in 1977, he purchased John Rewald’s seminal book The History of Impressionism which catapulted him into a period of vigorous study. “That book changed my life,” says Harris. “That, when you step back from these little dabs of color, they create a scene. To me,…

Remember the days of yore, way back in 2019, when an artist duct taped a banana to a wall at Art Basel and it sold for $120,000? This was pre-Covid, so it truly feels like this happened eons ago. It was a simpler time, when bananas and tape could appear on a wall in Miami Beach and stop people in their tracks. One attendee would later stroll up to the “art installation”—the scare quotes around that phrase will make sense later—and casually eat the banana. What did it taste like? I kid you not, direct from his lips: “It tasted like $120,000.” For what’s it’s worth, we have no bananas in this issue. That’s not a judgement on that particular work of art, but it is a statement of fact:…

November 1-2, 2024 Cowboy Artists of America Show & Sale Fort Worth, TX – (817) 247-1200 November 8-9, 2024 Santa Fe Art Auction’s Annual Signature Live Auction Santa Fe, NM – (505) 954-5858 Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2024 SWAIA Winter Indian Market Santa Fe, NM – (505) 983-5220 January 6-26, 2025 Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale Denver, CO – (303) 291-2567 January 24-25, 2025 Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction Las Vegas, NV – (877) 968-8880 January 2025 (Dates TBA) Denver Art Museum Western Symposium Denver, CO – (720) 865-5000 February 14-16, 2025 Southeastern Wildlife Exposition Charleston, SC – (843) 723-1748 March 20-22, 2025 March in Montana Coeur d’Alene, ID – (208) 664-2091 March 20-22, 2025 The Russell Great Falls, MT – (406) 727-1939 March 2025 (Dates TBA) Out…

Welcome to our annual Western Museum Directory. We always strive for great museum coverage in every single issue, but this section, in every October issue, allows us to go above and beyond our normal coverage. We start with a feature that examines how artwork enters a museum collection from the perspective of three prominent institutions. From there, John O’Hern will take you into several exhibition highlights that are worth adding to your calendar. These shows typically hang for long periods of time, from three months to more than a year, so they offer large windows of time to visit and explore. Then we have our museum guide, with a terrific selection of museums that are all around the country. And finally, we have all our regular monthly museum coverage that…

150 E. Main Street, Trinidad, CO 81082 • (719) 846-4224 • www.armitchellmuseum.com The A.R. Mitchell Museum was founded to preserve and promote the work of Arthur Roy Mitchell. The museum strives to document Western life and history through Mitchell’s extraordinary art, and is also expanding to connect regional Western history with the broader contemporary art world through quarterly museum shows and monthly contemporary art openings. The museum is excited to present its third year of Resonance 2024: 3rd Annual Art Invitational featuring original art by 40-plus nationwide artists across multiple disciplines. Each artist personally selected an image from the museum’s collection of historic photographs, mostly taken by Mitchell himself, as source material for their individual piece. The show will display an enlarged print of the chosen photograph together with the…

146 Kit Carson Road, Taos, NM 87571 • (575) 751-0369 admin@couse-sharp.org • www.couse-sharp.org Couse-Sharp Historic Site is the most significant historic site focused on the early 20th-century Taos art colony and the Taos Society of Artists (TSA). During its heyday, the TSA was one of the best-known artists’ groups in the nation. Inspired by the area’s light and landscapes, as well as the people of the Taos Pueblo and the Hispano town of Taos—communities many centuries old—these artists made a lasting impact. Their shared vision of creating a uniquely American art forever influenced perceptions of Native America and the West. The site’s two-plus-acre campus includes the homes, studios and gardens of Eanger Irving Couse and Joseph Henry Sharp, two of the TSA’s six founders, as well as the workshops of…

4701 Highway 89 North, Prescott, AZ 86301 • (928) 778-1385 • phippen@phippenmuseum.org Welcome to the Phippen Museum, a premier destination for enthusiasts of Western fine art. The museum is dedicated to celebrating the rich heritage, culture and artistic expression of the American West through an extensive and carefully curated collection of artworks. The Phippen specializes in Western fine art, showcasing a diverse array of paintings, sculptures and other artworks that capture the spirit and essence of the Western frontier. The collections highlight the beauty, challenges and stories of the American West, from its rugged landscapes and iconic cowboys, to its Native American heritage and contemporary interpretations. The Phippen is proud to feature works from renowned artists who have made significant contributions to Western art; George Phippen, known for his realistic…

155 S. University Avenue, St. George, UT 84770 (435) 652-7909 • www.searsart.com The Sears Art Museum is in the Dolores Doré Eccles Fine Arts Center on the Utah Tech University Campus in St. George, Utah. Part of Greater Zion, the beauty of this area is awe-inspiring for visitors and artists. People are attracted and appreciate their visits to the Sears Art Museum to discover meaningful connections with artistic expressions and to enjoy opportunities for conversation, contemplation and a cooperative experience. This year, the museum celebrates the 38th Annual Robert N. and Peggy Sears Invitational Art Show and Sale. The gala opening reception and sale will take place on February 14, 2025. The exhibition will be open to the public from February 15 through March 30, 2025. The museum now has…

Art doesn’t always have to tell a story, but it often does. Music can tell tales through sound and word, dance through movement, and visual art through the brushstrokes the artist puts to canvas. In an exhibition opening at the Briscoe Western Art Museum, the rich stories, history and cultures of the West are explored through a comprehensive survey of artwork produced in the Southwest from the early 20th century to today. Storytellers: Narrative Art and the West originated at the New Mexico Museum of Art back in 2021 and 2022. The exhibition, which will debut at the Briscoe at the beginning of October, presents more than 70 works of art from the collections of the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture and the…

Honoring the traditional forms of ranch and cowboy life—with examples that include saddles, bit and spur making, as well silver-smithing and rawhide braiding—is the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association Exhibition & Sale. Hosted by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, this annual showcase celebrates its 25th anniversary this year by featuring 51 pieces by 21 artisans. “This exhibition…provides the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association the opportunity to place before the world the most current and avant garde interpretations of traditional ranching and cowboy gear and tools, as well as applying traditional cowboy making methods to non-cowboy forms by the finest artists and craftspeople working in this realm,” says TCAA exhibition curator Michael R. Grauer. He continues to explain that traditional forms of ranch and cowboy life—saddles, spurs, bits, quirts, reins, headstalls,…

Brett Allen Johnson is known for his paintings of the Southwest, but look closer at the landscapes and they reveal the extent of his travels all around the United States. Yes, there are images of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, but then also Nevada, California and, in a recent exploration, South Dakota. On September 18, Johnson will share works from these destinations and others in the show New Small Paintings, at Maxwell Alexander Gallery. The show, which will likely include 10 new works, will be held online on Maxwell Alexander’s website. Asked about the difficulty, or ease, of making small works, Johnson admits that each piece is different. “Small ones can be a challenge, but so can big ones, and then it can go the other way too where they…

Show Preview: Legacy Gallery October 11-12, 2024 Santa Fe, NM It takes a special kind of love of wildlife to create the majestic, bronze beings that artist Jeff Eppler creates. The passion is felt within the meticulous details he crafts into each piece, careful not to miss a beat of the animal’s beauty, and giving a rare glimpse into its everyday life. On October 11 and 12, Legacy Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is proud to present A Weekend with Jim Eppler, during which art enthusiasts will be able to have a unique experience to see nature through Eppler’s eyes as he explores the magic of wildlife. Eppler’s love for “critters,” as he calls them, began at a very early age. He knew he was interacting with art differently…

VISIT WESTERNARTCOLLECTOR.COM/PASTISSUES OR CALL 1 (877) 947-0792 TO PURCHASE PAST ISSUES Create a library of fine Western art in your home by purchasing past issues of Western Art Collector. Enjoy timeless works of art, follow artists’ careers, and explore gallery and museum exhibitions and coast-to-coast art destinations that continue to define the nation’s Western art market. Collectors of Western art rely upon Western Art Collector to stay informed on the latest works from the country’s top contemporary Western artists as well as artwork from historic Western masters. Our magazine allows collectors to get a real sense of Western art that is coming available for sale—and opportunity to buy it right off our pages. Stay informed on the latest exhibits across the country, subscribe today online at WWW.WESTERNARTCOLLECTOR.COM…

Mike Overby, partner at Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, always takes great pleasure in watching new chairs being put out prior to or during a sale. “It’s always hard to tell how many chairs we’ll need by the reception on Friday, simply because so many people come in just for the sale on Saturday,” he says. “So when we have to add several more rows of chairs that’s amazing to see because it means the action in the room could get exciting. And it did.” Those extra chairs, and all the others as well, contribute to active bidding in the room. More bidders equals more f u n for t h e auction watchers, and certainly more fun for the consignors. On July 27, Coeur d’Alene Art Auction offered 402 lots…

In May, Scottsdale Art Auction received a call after the close of its annual sale in April. A buyer was interested in one of the unsold works from the sale. These calls are common following sales all around the country. This isn’t normally news, but the piece the caller was inquiring about was Charles M. Russell’s The Broken Rope, the April sale’s cover lot and the big showstopping piece many were watching very closely. “After the sale, we heard from a couple different prospective buyers who expressed interest,” says auction partner Brad Richardson. “We had a firm commitment from one of them, and we later sold it to them for $5.2 million. Ultimately, it got sold, which was our goal for all of the works we offer.” The sale of…

November 1-2 58th Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale WILL ROGERS MEMORIAL CENTER September 18 Brett Allen Johnson MAXWELL ALEXANDER GALLERY Online – (213) 275-1060 maxwellalexandergallery.com October 4 Alvin Gill-Tapia: Gilded Structures MANITOU GALLERIES Santa Fe, NM – (505) 986-0440 www.legacygallery.com October 4-25 Trailblazers & Traditions INSIGHT GALLERY Fredericksburg, TX – (830) 997-9920 insightgallery.com Oct. 4, 2024-Jan. 19, 2025 Storytellers: Narrative Art and the West BRISCOE WESTERN ART MUSEUM San Antonio, TX – (210) 299-4499 www.briscoemuseum.org Through October 5 Kyle Polzin LEGACY GALLERY Santa Fe, NM – (505) 986-9833 www.legacygallery.com October 5-13 26th Annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational VARIOUS LOCATIONS Laguna Beach, CA – (949) 376-3635, lpapa.org October 11-26 Doug West: Seeing the Now BLUE RAIN GALLERY Through October 6 Quest for the West EITELJORG MUSEUM Indianapolis,…

After a long and distinguished trip traveling with the dual exhibitions Andy Warhol: Cowboys & Indians and Billy Schenck: Myth of the West, Schenck’s large half-tone dot painting, Half-Tone Flats, was acquired by the Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver Art Museum. The work appears in the catalog for the exhibition Western Pop: Andy Warhol & Billy Schenck, with essays on each artist by Michael Duchemin, the former president and CEO at the Briscoe Western Art Museum in Texas. “Labeled ‘The Warhol of the West,’ Billy Schenck fashioned a new style of Western Pop, inspired by Andy Warhol’s halftone dot process, his repetitive images, and limited-edition series of screen prints. By 1996, Schenck had created 52 series of limited-edition serigraphs, reflecting fictionalized Western histories, contemporary ranch life…

Museums are the ultimate arbiters of taste. The cultural apex. Once an artwork enters a museum, it becomes great. Why else would it be there, guarded and cherished for eternity? Who makes the decisions about what artworks and artists an institution pursues for acquisition, and when, where and how much to spend when it does? Answering these questions are three leaders in the field with a direct role in their institution’s collecting process. “Unlike other institutions, which may collect in breadth and in depth, we collect just the best of the best,” says JR (Jennifer R.) Henneman, director and curator of the Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver Art Museum. “Whatever we show of any given artist, we want it to do honor to that artist and…

501 Museum Drive, Cartersville, GA 30120 • (770) 387-1300 • www.boothmuseum.org Located just north of Atlanta is the Booth Western Art Museum, with the world’s largest permanent exhibition space for Western art. Since opening its doors in 2003, this architectural gem, designed to evoke a modern pueblo and crafted from Bulgarian limestone, has captivated visitors within its expansive 120,000 square feet. As a proud affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Booth offers a unique lens through which to view America’s story. With its diverse collection spanning paintings, sculptures, photography and historical artifacts, the museum brings to life the American experience through the eyes of its most renowned artists. The museum’s permanent collection spans over a dozen galleries, featuring masterpieces from iconic artists like Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, as well…

542 Commercial Street, Elko, NV 89801 • (775) 389-1713 • www.cowboyartsandgearmuseum.org Wander the downtown streets of Elko, Nevada, and you’ll find the Cowboy Arts & Gear Museum tucked away in the historic G.S. Garcia Saddle & Harness Shop. It’s a little slice of cowboy history with saddles, bits and spurs on display from bygone eras. Equally important is the continuation of these cowboy art skills. The museum hosts silver engraving classes upstairs with plans to add more options in the future. The annual Bit, Spur, and Rawhide Reins Contest is the highlight of the year, held during the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. The contest showcases the creativity and workmanship of today’s makers, and truly embodies the museum’s mission to preserve and promote the history and craftsmanship of the American West.…

303 Washington Street • Ogdensburg, NY 13669 (315) 393-2425 • info@fredericremington.org www.fredericremington.org The Frederic Remington Art Museum expands and deepens the appreciation and understanding of artist Frederic Remington (1861-1909), honoring the final wishes of his wife, Eva Caten Remington, by preserving and sharing his artwork and ephemera, their personal art collection and her home, the Parish Mansion. The museum endeavors to keep his legacy relevant and will continue to be a destination and resource for the worldwide community of American art enthusiasts and scholars by engaging diverse, contemporary audiences in educational programs, presenting inspiring exhibits, and interpreting and contextualizing his work and legacy through a modern lens, with a focus on uplifting marginalized voices. Major Upcoming Exhibitions Details to be released on social media and via email newsletter Admission &…

807 Lincoln Avenue, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477 (970) 870-1755 • www.steamboatartmuseum.org Housed in the iconic First National Bank/Rehder Building (1905/1920) on the National Registry of Historic Places is the Steamboat Art Museum, located in the heart of downtown Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The museum presents three new exhibitions annually, celebrating the work of living masters as well as historic work relevant to the culture and heritage of the West. Pieces from the permanent collection are exhibited on a rotating basis in the Dulin Family Library at SAM, featuring previous exhibiting artists including Thomas Quinn, John Fawcett, Walter Matia, Donna Howell-Sickles, Len Chmiel, Nancy Howe, Howard Post, Dan Young, Julie Oriet, Curtis Zabel, Clyde Aspevig, Rod Hanna and Jim Morgan. In late September is SAM Plein Air 2025, featuring 50 artists from…

Many would argue that no single technological advancement had such a profound impact on the cultural geography or social topography of the United States as the advent of the railroad. In an exploration of how the arrival of trains impacted the visual culture during the rapid industrialization and expansion of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Shelburne Museum presents All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, 1840-1955. Comprised of 40 works, the exhibition features Thomas Cole, Jacob Lawrence, Edward Hopper, John Sloan, Reginald Marsh, Thomas Hart Benton and many scenes of the West by artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Albert Bierstadt, Henry Farny, Theodore Kauffman and others. Taken together, All Aboard explores the influence of the railroad on the history of American art, from its beginnings as a technological wonder,…

The Museum of Northern Arizona is taking a closer look at the famed Fred Harvey Company and how it brought the enchantment and allure of the Southwest to the masses through the work of renowned artists. “Selling the Southwest is an overview of the role that the Fred Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railway played in promoting the American Southwest as an exotic destination for travelers. The imagery the two corporations used from well-known artists for promotional purposes still influences our culture and understanding of the Southwest today,” says Alan Petersen, curator of fine art at the Museum of Northern Arizona. Most know the Fred Harvey Company, founded in 1876, as the owner of the iconic Harvey House chain of restaurants and hotels along the railroads of the Western…

Emphasizing the distinct geography of New Mexico, artist Doug West captures the desert terrain in all of its spellbinding glory. This October, Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe will be hosting a solo show featuring eight new paintings by West completed during the past eight months. “The Southwest resonates deeply with Doug West’s spirit. He is most interested in capturing what speaks of the expanse and the connection that ties us to this place in a timeless, memorable way,” says Leah Garcia, director of marketing at Blue Rain Gallery. In this new series of works, West makes plant life the focal points of his compositions, placing cacti, succulents and wildflowers against distant mountains and dynamic desert skies. Some pieces feature realistic flora—depicting what are clearly yucca, sagebrush or prickly pears—while…

Carrie Penley spent her childhood playing outdoors in rural western Georgia. She loved nature and animals. A successful interior design career in Atlanta gave her two boys a vastly different upbringing. “They were city people,” Penley says. Family vacations included New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and the beaches of the Florida panhandle. “In 2019, I realized my kids had never been out West or to a national park,” Penley recalls. Her familiarity with the West outside of Los Angeles wasn’t much better. “I knew nothing about any of the national parks. I got out a map and went, ‘Huh, I’m going to go to Jackson Hole because we could hit two parks at one time, the Tetons and Yellowstone. That’s the sole reason why I picked it.” Penley wasn’t…

Elizabeth Sage grew up on a working ranch in Northern California, where training horses and traveling to horse shows and rodeos served as endless inspiration towards a greater passion. But, it didn’t stop there. “When I wasn’t riding, I was drawing and painting the Western lifestyle that I lived whether during breaktime at events or sitting in a pasture,” Sage says. She worked in graphic design for more than 20 years, and then also with Texas Instruments as a senior designer. In 2008, she left it all behind to return to her passion for art. “I have explored nearly every genre of art in style, technique and subject, but have always returned to my roots of Western and Southwest art. It’s what I know and love,” she adds. “…Western art…

A long the half-mile stretch of the historic Canyon Road in Santa Fe, New Mexico, there are more than 100 galleries, shops, artist studios and restaurants, all attracting major art collectors, enthusiasts and anyone looking to surround themselves with rich, cultural experiences. Every year, the area’s galleries and artists come together for the Canyon Road Paint and Sculpt Out, during which the public can find an array of demonstrations and exhibitions. “This special event harkens back to the day when it was a common occurrence to see artists along Canyon Road plein air painting,” says event organizers. “Now you’ll find artists working in various genre and media. There will be something for everyone to enjoy, and the rare opportunity to watch top-tier artists create. Opportunities will be there for enthusiasts…