Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg, AZ
March 31-September 3
Shawn Cameron, In the Branding Pen, oil, 14 x 18.
In traditional western parlance, “cowboy up” describes overcoming an obstacle through a dynamic combination of ability and grit. So, when the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, AZ, launched an annual exhibition dedicated to women artists of the West in 2005, the title “Cowgirl Up!” felt particularly appropriate.
“It makes a major statement about the determination it takes for a woman to set out to succeed as an artist in any genre, but particularly in the western one,” observes Dan Finley, the museum’s executive director. Certainly, the more than 60 women featured in this 18th edition demonstrate exceptional dedication to both their aesthetic callings and their western subjects.
The show’s opening weekend kicks off on Friday, March 31, with a preview reception and the always eagerly anticipated miniatures sale, for which Finley expects over 200 works from this year’s artists. These small pieces are sold by drawing of intent-to-purchase slips, and most can be taken home that very night.
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- Diana Woods, Refuge, oil, 33 x 33.
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- Rebecca Tobey, Nimbus, bronze, 34 x 18 x 11.
Saturday morning, when the more than 150 works in the main show go on view, ticketed event attendees can enjoy a special presentation from Arizona author, artist, and historian Bob Boze Bell on his new book Hellraisers & Trailblazers: The Real Women of the Wild West. That night, following a gala awards dinner, the main art sale-by-drawing occurs. A fundraising auction featuring such appealing items as an airplane tour over the Grand Canyon also takes place.
Festivities conclude on Sunday morning with a widely attended breakfast and quick-draw, during which participating artists have 90 minutes to complete creations to be auctioned immediately thereafter. “We get a great community response to this event,” Finley says. Cowgirl Up! then stays on public view for the following five months. Among participating sculptors, Finley enthusiastically singles out the long-revered Veryl Goodnight, an inductee into Fort Worth’s National Cowgirl Hall of Fame. Works this year from respected Santa Fe-based Rebecca Tobey include the sleekly stylized limited-edition bronze NIMBUS. It depicts a soaring hawk, breathtakingly patinaed in turquoise and featuring a gleaming beak and tail.
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- Dyana Hesson, Last Dance—Smooththroat Stoneseed, White Mountains, AZ, oil, 22 x 28.
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- Ann Hanson, True Blue, oil, 16 x 20.
An equal amount of experience and mastery can be found in the dazzling variety of two-dimensional works. Shawn Cameron, part of a six-generation family of Arizona ranchers, brings compelling immediacy to western life through paintings like IN THE BRANDING PEN. Diana Woods, who lives and works near the edge of Colorado National Monument, captures the enduring romance of horses and their riders in paintings, including REFUGE and SHARING A DRINK.
In bold contrast, the West’s natural world finds vivid expression in such oils as LAST DANCE—SMOOTHTHROAT STONESEED, WHITE MOUNTAINS, AZ by botanical artist Dyana Hesson. “In the last couple of years, we’ve added a significant floral component,” Finley notes.
Viewed as a whole, says Mary Ann Igna, Desert Caballeros deputy director and chief curator, such a wide range of works not only captures the continuing accomplishments of the West’s women artists but also expresses the museum’s recently adopted mission statement—“‘to share the stories, cultures, and experiences of the West.’ We’re pleased to be including several new artists again this year to keep the show fresh and to continue to broaden its scope.” —Norman Kolpas
contact information
928.684.2272
www.westernmuseum.org
This story appeared in the February/March 2023 issue of Southwest Art magazine.