Show Preview | Women Artists of the West

The Museum of Western Art, Kerrville, TX
February 6-March 19

Jan DeLipsey, The Homestead, oil, 14 x 20.

With a title like America the Beautiful, and a collection of artwork that organizers say is among the highest caliber they’ve seen in recent years, the Women Artists of the West’s 2021 juried exhibition is already off to a good-looking start. The 51st annual show gains further aesthetic distinction from the renowned architectural design of its host venue, The Museum of Western Art. Located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, this sprawling museum has been on the group’s radar for a while, and organizers are thrilled to hang members’ work there for the first time beginning this month.

America the Beautiful comprises one work each from approximately 130 members of WAOW, a group that began as a grassroots effort among four women in 1971 and has since grown to a membership of approximately 350 professional women artists from 30 states plus Canada and Australia. These members work in a variety of two- and three-dimensional media and in a wide range of artistic styles, but the common denominators are their passion for western subject matter, their commitment to creating skillful artwork, and their desire to empower and encourage fellow women artists.

The featured works, which were chosen by a blind jury of fellow WAOW members, offer something for collectors at all levels. There are plein-air sketches, multifigure narratives, ambitious portrait paintings and sculptures, and large-scale landscapes, among other works. The subject matter includes ranch and rural life, the Old West and the new West, wildlife, and Native American cultures. Watercolor, oil, acrylic, mixed media, pastel, graphite, scratchboard, and bronze are some of the media represented. Interested collectors can purchase these works both in person at the museum, or through the museum’s website, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Also on display in the show this year is a depth of storytelling and expression that WAOW spokesperson Jan DeLipsey suspects may come from the hardships and isolation everyone faced in 2020. “We’ve been home more, and in some ways that has helped us focus on and perfect our work,” she says. “Because of the social isolation inherent with the pandemic and the pain people have experienced, I think artists want to be more expressive and show how the events of 2020 have affected them.”

Another unofficial theme of the show is unity, one of the main pillars of the group and an especially timely topic right now. In fact, the show’s title came from a discussion among the organizers about finding common ground in the midst of division. “Our group is made up of a wide range of wonderful women artists from many walks of life, regions, and cultures,” DeLipsey says. “With everything that divides and destroys us becoming quite apparent in 2020, this year we especially wanted to focus on what binds us together. Art can be a vehicle to help you see through another’s eyes and perspective—so many of the works in this year’s show do just that.” –Allison Malafronte

Peruse works by some of these participating artists: Carolyn C. Bell; Amy Evans; Joey Frisillo; Risa Waldt; and Barbara Kitty Williams.

contact information
830.896.2553
www.museumofwesternart.com

This story appeared in the February 2021 issue of Southwest Art magazine.