Coleman Wins Top CA Awards
Arizona sculptor John Coleman received three major awards at the Cowboy Artists of America show at the Phoenix Art Museum in October. His bronze addih-hiddisch, hidatsa chief won Coleman the Western Art Associates’ Kieckhefer Award for Best of Show and the gold medal in sculpture, while he also took home the Artists’ Choice award for his overall body of work. Gold medals also went to Jim Norton for oils; Gary Niblett for water solubles, and Don Crowley for drawings and other media. John Moyers, Oreland Joe, David Halbach, and R.S. Riddick won silver medals.
Another highlight of the 39th annual event, which posted record-breaking sales in excess of $2.6 million, was the announcement of three new Cowboy Artist members, Clark Kelley Price, Dave Powell, and T.D. Kelsey. Watch for an article featuring these artists in Southwest Art’s March issue.
Roberts, Brooke Honored at Gold Medal Show
Ray Roberts took home the Best of Show award for his oil painting sierra siesta at the California Art Club’s 94th annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition. Peter Brooke received the Best of Show award in the sculpture category for his bronze michael—standing. The show, which opened in October, was held at the Pasadena Museum of California Art in Pasadena, CA
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Altermann Auction Beats $4 Million
Santa Fe-based Altermann Galleries’ October auction earned more than $4 million—a figure that nearly doubles the gallery’s typical results over the past two years. Held at the Hyatt at Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ, the sale found buyers for 144 of its 191 lots. R. Brownell McGrew’s oil painting salah-tso goes to the sing was the top lot, fetching $288,500. Other highlights of the sale included Joseph Henry Sharp’s hairy moccasin, which sold for $222,500, and time stood still by Howard Terpning, also at $222,500. Approximately 300 guests attended the auction.
Latino Arts Plan
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Chicano Studies Research Center at the University of California at Los Angeles are joining forces to launch a Latino Arts Initiative. The partner-ship includes an agreement to develop exhibitions, publications, educational activities, and research projects that foster a greater understanding of Latino arts and cultures. One of the initiative’s first efforts is the presentation of Lords of Creation: the Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship, an exhibition that explores the development of kings and their roles in the emergence of complex urban society 2,000 years ago. The traveling exhibit is scheduled to open at LACMA in September.
Art-Friendly Denver
Denver is fast gaining a reputation as an art friendly city. Most recently, a new hotel across from the Colorado Convention Center has earmarked nearly $1 million to purchase art for its 1,100 rooms and public spaces. The hotel is owned by the nonprofit Denver Convention Center Hotel Authority. In October, the selection committee announced its first choices, black-and-white landscapes by Denver photographers Mark Sink and Kevin O’Connell. An additional $1.5 million worth of art also will be purchased through funds garnered by the city’s percentage-for-art ordinance, which requires that 1 percent of city-funded construction budgets be set aside for art.
Featured in “On the Scene” January 2005