Another successful year of the Cowgirl Up! National Art Exhibition & Sale recently wrapped up at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona. We’ve got a report of artists who took home honors and hardware. Who were they?
As should come as no surprise, the 12th Annual Cowgirl Up! National Art Exhibition & Sale was a resounding success, featuring 58 nationally acclaimed women artists and well over 1,000 patrons. Of the 58 artists represented, 51 attended the event, making this year’s event one of the most special.
Among the highlights of the festival were the Friday-evening Miniatures Sale and Cowgirl Roundup Street Dance, the Saturday-evening Bash & Bid Gala and Live Auction, and the Sunday-morning Chuckwagon Breakfast and Artist Quick Draw. The totals? Over $300,000 in art sales were realized this year, which will benefit both the participating artists and the Desert Caballeros Western Museum.
Ten different awards were presented by museum executive director Sandra Harris at the Bash & Bid Gala on March 25. The ever-talented Jill Soukup took home Best of Show honors for her painting “Tough & Tender.” The 2017 Director’s Choice New Artist award for body of work was presented to Tampa, Florida, artist Heide Presse; the honor guarantees Presse’s inclusion in Cowgirl Up! 2018.
Deborah Copenhaver Fellows of Sonoita, Arizona, received the Museum Purchase award. Her bronze sculpture, titled “When Horses Made Heroes,” will become a part of the Desert Caballeros Western Museum’s permanent art collection. Fellows also received Western Art Collector Magazine’s Award of Excellence for her body of work, and will receive a complimentary ad in Western Art Collector Magazine.
The Award for First Place Two-Dimensional on Canvas went to Nancy Boren of The Colony, Texas, for “Fast Track to Mustang Ridge.” Boren receives a complimentary ad in Art of the West Magazine, which sponsored the award.
For the third year in a row, the First Place two-Dimensional on Paper award went to Rox Corbett of Powell, Wyoming, this year for her charcoal on rag drawing “Buick and the Beast.” Sculptor Martha Pettigrew of Kearney, Nebraska, received First Place Three-Dimensional for her stainless-steel piece “Two Ravens.”
Shell, Wyoming, artist Ann Hanson was selected by her Cowgirl Up! peers for the highly respected Artists’ Choice award for her body of work; she’ll receive a complimentary ad placement from award sponsor Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. First-year Cowgirl Up! artist Jessica Gilbert, of Eagle, Colorado, received the People’s Choice award for body of work. Gilbert received a $1,000 gift certificate from Art Handlers Ltd, which sponsored the award.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey will select the prestigious Governor’s Choice Award at a future date. This award will be presented to one of the 17 Arizona-based Cowgirl Up! artists. All the award-winning paintings, drawings, and sculptures will remain on exhibit throughout the run of the show, which ends on May7, 2017. Sales continue throughout the exhibition.
To learn more, visit the Desert Caballeros Western Museum.
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
