Wickenburg, AZ
Desert Caballeros Western Museum, March 27-May 10
**Update: Opening weekend events for the Cowgirl Up! exhibition have been cancelled, but the exhibition will be available for viewing by appointment and online. Click here for more information.
Stephanie Revennaugh, Mo and Benson, bronze/steel, 30 x 28 x 8.
This story was featured in the March/April 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art March/April 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
SINCE ITS DEBUT at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in 2006, the Cowgirl Up! exhibition and sale has always been about spotlighting top female talents working in the western art genre today. Naturally, eager western art enthusiasts will be pleased to know that Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West returns this March with its usual spectacular offerings. The number of participating artists has increased, too, says the museum’s executive director Dan Finley. “We typically have about 55 artists in the show,” he notes. “This year we have about 60, and that’s a high-water mark for us.”
The show opens with a ticketed reception on Friday, March 27, when the museum unveils more than 200 paintings, drawings, and sculptures in a variety of mediums, styles, and western themes, from depictions of the Old West to Native American narratives. Divided into two sections, the show features a gallery of miniature artworks that can be purchased starting on opening night, and a gallery of full-size works that are available for sale starting on Saturday at a ticketed dinner and auction. Opening-weekend festivities also include a catered breakfast and Quick Draw com-petition outside the museum on Sunday morning that culminates in a live auction of the pieces. If the wildly successful openings for previous Cowgirl Up! shows are a good indicator, Finley expects opening weekend this year to be “a sell-out.” “We don’t want to disappoint anyone,” he adds, “so people do need to buy their tickets early.”
-
- Jan Mapes, The Surveyor, bronze, 16 x 13 x 9.
-
- Shelby Keefe, Wyoming Slouch, oil, 37 x 30.
-
- Star York, Purrfect Lazy Day, bronze, 12 x 40 x 14.
Indeed, the popularity of this pioneering show can’t be denied—nor is it surprising, with impressive works by nationally recognized artists like Sheila Cottrell, Stephanie Hartshorn, Dinah Worman, Rox Corbett, Rebecca Tobey, and Mejo Okon. Working within a genre that’s all too often dominated by male artists, this all-star group lends a fresh voice to the American western experience. Visitors to the exhibit are treated to pieces, for example, like Stephanie Revennaugh’s exquisitely textured metal sculptures of dressage horses; vibrantly designed southwestern landscapes in sumptuous oil pastels by Jennifer Cavan; and visually arresting silhouettes of modern, self-assured cowgirls in acrylics by Maura Allen.
-
- Maura Allen, Her True West, acrylic, 30 x 30.
-
- Deborah Copenhaver Fellows, She’s a Little Wet Behind the Ears, bronze, 22 x 10 x 20.
-
- Jennifer Cavan, Around the Bend, oil pastel, 30 x 40.
The consistently high level of quality in Cowgirl Up! has been the museum’s intention since the show started, says Finley. “We wanted very much to make this show about being an exhibition of phenomenal art from artists who happen to be women,” he says. “It was born out of a desire to give far greater prominence to western women artists than they had been receiving up until that time.” That mission—in addition to the caliber of art on display—is cause for celebration, particularly as the show commemorates an important anniversary this year. “Here we are, 15 years into the show, and it gets bigger and better every year,” says Finley. “People want to come and be a part of it.”
Billed as an exhibition first and a sale second, Cowgirl Up! remains on view through May 10. After opening weekend, any unsold pieces can be purchased throughout the duration of the show, either in the museum galleries or online. —Kim Agricola
contact information
928.684.2272
www.westernmuseum.org
-
- Sam Woolcott, Western Roots, charcoal/pastel/acrylic, 42 x 26.
This story was featured in the March/April 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art March/April 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
MORE RESOURCES FOR ART COLLECTORS & ENTHUSIASTS
• Subscribe to Southwest Art magazine
• Learn how to paint & how to draw with downloads, books, videos & more from North Light Shop
• Sign up for your Southwest Art email newsletter & download a FREE ebook