Cody, WY Buffalo Bill Center of the West, September 16-21
This story was featured in the September 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
THIS MONTH, for a whopping 38th year in a row, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, WY, hosts the prestigious Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale. What started as a small gathering of western artists selling their work at a hotel has ballooned over the years into one of the biggest annual western art events in the country. “It’s so much more than an art show now; it’s an educational and inspirational week of learning, engaging, and celebrating the history of western art and the amazing work of established and emerging western artists,” says longtime director Kathy Thompson.
This year’s show features 107 artists who each offer up to five original works, including a Quick Draw piece if they choose. “This year we have 41 brave souls who are participating in the Quick Draw,” Thompson says. “It’s always a fun, wild, high-energy event. For the artists, it’s a fun way to challenge themselves, and for patrons, I always say purchasing a Quick Draw piece is a great way to start building a collection,” she adds.
As usual, the show features a wide variety of works relating to the land, people, and animals of the American West. Artists offer a broad range of stylistic interpretations—from traditional to contemporary and everything in between—in mediums ranging from paintings in oil, watercolor, pastel, and mixed media to sculptures in bronze, ceramic, and more. “It’s truly an exhibit of 107 ways to see the West, with each of the 107 artists bringing such uniqueness and individuality in their interpretations and depictions,” Thompson says.
There are 10 artists who are new to the show this year, including renowned wildlife artists John Seerey-Lester and Ezra Tucker, contemporary figurative painter Michael Blessing, and landscape painter David Jonason. On the other end of the spectrum, there are about 10 or 12 artists who have been in the show since its very beginning—including M.C. Poulsen, Steve Devenyns, and Michael Coleman. Longtime show favorite T. Allen Lawson is also returning this year after taking a few years off. And well-known sculptor Oreland C. Joe Sr. is switching things up with new oil and mixed-media two-dimensional works. Other returning artists include Duke Beardsley, Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey, Doug Hall, Kevin Red Star, Josh Tobey, Kathryn Mapes Turner, Michael Ome Untiedt, Michele Usibelli, and Karen Vance.
The show is held in conjunction with the Center of the West’s Patrons Ball and the By Western Hands Design Exhibition—all of which are part of Rendezvous Royale Week, which takes place September 16-21. Main events include the Friday-evening live auction; the Saturday-morning Quick Draw; a Lunch & Lecture titled Wyoming Women in the Visual Arts, Unplugged; and The Scout’s Small Works Sale. Proceeds from the show and sale benefit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce. —Lindsay Mitchell
contact informationwww.buffalobillartshow.com
This story was featured in the September 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2019 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
The post Show Preview | Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale appeared first on Southwest Art Magazine.