A Western Imagining
Honor the American West at the esteemed Cheyenne Frontier Days Western Art Show & Sale.
There’s a lot of excitement surrounding this year’s Cheyenne Frontier Days Western Art Show & Sale, as they aim to celebrate their 40th anniversary. While there will be some changes to this year’s format, such as a virtual opening reception held on July 16, they will be moving forward with a live show at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum.
This highly anticipated event features top Western artists, each celebrating the heritage of the American West with their unique and individual style. “We have 13 new artists, seven alumni artists and 56 returning artists,” says Cameron Green, art show coordinator. “We’re excited about all the new artists and we’re also happy to welcome back the Cowboy Artists of America. [The CA] brings a great level of work to the show.”
Participating artist Don
Weller adds, “Cheyenne means a terrific art show with some surprises and friendly docents taking care of business. There are social reunions with artists and collectors, and the presence of the huge rodeo dominates the town. Cowboy hats are everywhere.”
Viewers can also expect pieces like Carol Swinney’s oil Sunset Over Wyoming Range, showing a brilliant pink sunset reflecting in a creek, and Renee Piskorski’s oil Rolling Thunder, a herd of buffalo storming out of billowing clouds of dust. Additional artists include Abigail Mcbride, Carrie Wild,
Jennifer Johnson and Matt Wolf.
For the anniversary, the show has created a reunion of some iconic alumni artists that will showcase one piece each. One of the most anticipated returning artists is Joni Falk. “Joni was an audience favorite,” Green says. “I think it’s her subject material. She’s done these great rabbit pieces in the past and there’s just something about her style and consistency. Buyers want to meet the artist and want to make a personal connection, and Joni makes that connection with everyone.”
Hosted on Facebook Live, the event will include a silent auction during the opening reception on the July 16. “We will be live streaming from the museum, talking about each piece and doing some fun interactions, along with conducting artist interviews and even speaking with the governor,” Green explains. The museum will also be teaming up with a local business in town to do a Google Maps virtual walk through three different gallery exhibits.
“Cheyenne Frontier Days has helped people imagine what is and what was the American West,” says Green. “The art show we have is a real reflection of those imaginations and reimaginations by artists and their artwork.”
The public can attend the show in person beginning July 17 through August 16. For information visit www.cfdartshow.com.
Oil painter Bradley Settles was born in San Antonio and raised on a 300-acre cattle ranch where his family raised prize-winning longhorns. Settles’ work reflects the Western landscape he grew up around.
“I am the land,” he explains. “I am tied to its energy and compelled by its beauty. The depth and scale of my work reminds us that we are but tenants and temporary stewards of a land where ownership can never be possible, as it belongs to the creator.”
Settles’ paintings earned him the
Rising Texas Artist award from a Kerrville art festival. In addition, he had works published in the Baylor University’s Book of Anthropology in 2007, was twice accepted into the Bosque Art Classic, and designed the label artwork and logo for internationally