How has the mythic, vast American West continued to inspire artists for decades? This year marks the 20th annual Quest for the West® Art Show and Sale, an annual fundraising event at the Eiteljorg Museum (Indianapolis, Indiana) featuring works by nearly 50 contemporary artists.
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In past Quest shows, landscape paintings have captured brilliant light and rhythmic towering rock formations. Images of stately bison and gray wolves — two species that approached the brink of extinction at the turn of the 20th century — called to mind the delicate balance of western ecosystems. Iconic cowboys represented a legacy of Hispanic influence and global exchange throughout the West and captivated artists today as they have for the past 150 years.
At the 2025 Quest for the West, viewers will see railroad cars, narrow canyons, rope lassos, dusty windows and radiant skies. Through these artworks, imagined stories blend with lived experiences. Whether you live in the Midwest or the Mountain West, imagery inspired by the western United States continues to shape American culture and identity. During the Quest opening weekend events September 5-6, pre-registered art collectors and enthusiasts can meet the artists who are capturing these extraordinary places with fresh insight today.
20TH ANNUAL QUEST FOR THE WEST ART SHOW AND SALE
SEPT. 5-6: Sale Weekend
SEPT. 7-OCT. 5 : Art show, special exhibition gallery
CELEBRATING ART OF THE WEST
First held in September 2006, Quest for the West has two exciting phases: First is a festive weekend when collectors mix with 48 of today’s top artists and bid on their recent works depicting the West, in an atmosphere of camaraderie and fine dining. That’s followed by a one-month art show in which museum-goers experience nearly 200 Quest works that remain on view at the Eiteljorg after the sale.
Each year’s sale weekend at the Eiteljorg is an enchanting gathering of art enthusiasts, collectors and artists with a mutual passion for the American West. In a typical Quest year, more than $1 million in artwork is sold, which supports the artists, raises funds for the museum and serves to boost the national profile of contemporary art of the West. In celebration of 20 years of Quest, the museum will offer special events.
ART AND ARTISTS
Prominent painters and sculptors return for Quest, including Tim Cherry, Robert Griffing, Donna Howell-Sickles, Krystii Melaine, Dean Mitchell, P.A. Nisbet, Heide Presse and H. David Wright, among others. This year features several notable artists making their debuts at Quest, including Starr Hardridge (Muscogee Creek), David Jonason, Ryan A. Lee, Z.S. Liang, Bonnie Marris, Preston Singletary (Tlingit) and Jill Soukup. Visitors will remember Singletary’s solo glass sculpture exhibition at the museum last fall, Raven and the Box of Daylight, and the Eiteljorg is pleased to welcome him back to participate in the Quest sale.
MAIN ART SALE
On Saturday, Sept. 6, pre-registered Quest guests participate in a fixed-price, luck-of-the-draw art sale where they mingle with the artists while viewing and vying for artworks. It’s not an auction; instead, a bidder whose name is drawn gets the first right to purchase a particular piece. If that bidder declines, the next person drawn is offered the chance to buy it. This process continues until a lucky bidder accepts and becomes the happy new owner of the artwork. The three draws are filled with suspense for bidders and artists alike.
MINIATURE ART SALE
Friday night Sept. 5 includes the popular miniature art sale, where the same Quest artists offer smaller pieces at lower price points. It’s a good option for experienced collectors who have no more space for large artworks, or for new collectors seeking an affordable entry into collecting. The bidding format for miniatures is the same as the main sale.
ART AWARDS
Works by Quest artists are eligible for awards presented in multiple categories Sept. 6. The prestigious Harrison Eiteljorg Purchase Award goes to an artwork the museum acquires for its collections; the purchase award is sponsored by The Western Art Society.
RE-FRAMING THE WEST
On the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 6, attendees at the 20th Quest will hear from special guest speaker Dr. Mindy Besaw, who has been director of research and curator at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. Besaw is co-curator of Knowing the West, the first major traveling exhibition to embrace the American West as more inclusive, complex and reflective of the diverse peoples who contributed to art and life there. Americans often feel they “know the West,” whether informed by direct experience or popular culture, and this exhibition of more than 120 historic works by Native American and non-Native American artists encourages deeper exploration of this familiar topic. A leading scholar on the art of the West, Besaw was previously curator of the Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, and wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on contemporary artists reconsidering the American West. (Dr. Besaw was recently named the new Wilma E. Kelley Director of the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, effective Aug. 15.)
“The exhibition Knowing the West expanded historical boundaries of western American art by placing artists like Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Remington alongside 19th-century artists creating a wide variety of work in the West, from quilts to saddles to woodblock prints. I’m thrilled to bring Mindy to Quest to share these fascinating new dialogues and perspectives about Western art,” Eiteljorg Vice President for Curatorial Affairs and Collections Laura Fry said.
HOOSIER HOSPITALITY
Another special Quest event for registered attendees is a field trip Friday afternoon Sept. 5 to the newly renovated and reinstalled Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, where they can savor Indy’s auto-racing heritage.
On both Quest sale evenings, the Eiteljorg plans special live music as entertainment. Both nights, the Eiteljorg’s exclusive caterer, Kahn’s Catering, creates a delicious dining experience, held in the museum’s Allen Whitehill Clowes Sculpture Court.
To fully appreciate the Quest experience, break out your festive Western apparel: Cowboy boots, ten-gallon Stetson hats, scarves, bold belt buckles and bolo ties are welcome, and encouraged, at this year’s event.
QUEST ART SHOW
Once the sale weekend concludes, Quest artworks remain on public view from Sept. 7 through Oct. 5 for Eiteljorg Museum visitors to enjoy, before the paintings and sculptures are shipped to their buyers. The Quest art show is included with regular museum admission.
Make the memories last by looking for a copy of the illustrated 2025 Quest for the West art catalog, available in September at the Frank and Katrina Basile Museum Store.
For more about Quest for the West, including advance sale weekend registration and absentee buyer information, visit quest.eiteljorg.org or contact Kay Hinds, development coordinator, at [email protected] or 317.275.1341.
Presented by the Western Art Society and the Avis Foundation, Inc.
Such beautiful, masterful work!