Cowgirl Up! expects to draw lots of interest

Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West exhibition and sale will run from March 30 to May 4 at Wickenburg’s Desert Caballeros Western Museum.

By generating nearly a half-million dollars in sales for its artists and doubling its town’s population with attendance, the Desert Caballeros Western Museum’s Cowgirl Up! exhibition and sale is putting Wickenburg on the map as a hot, new art destination - and not just in Arizona, but throughout the West.

“We are very proud of the fact that Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West, in just three years, has become the most important show and sale for western women artists in the country,” said Royce Kardinal, executive director of the museum. “With 56 artists in this year’s show, you would have to travel to at least three other states and to all the other major art towns in the West to see the breadth and depth of what we will have here at one time … and in one place.”

It is a critical mass of art by the West’s best women artists that

has been discovered by avid collectors, with up-and-coming collectors now beginning to catch on, too.

“This is the perfect show for what we call the ‘emerging collector,’ explained Kardinal. “Although our goal is to raise the ‘leather ceiling’ that has traditionally held pricing down for western women artists, those who want to collect western art of value are still able to lasso a real find here.”

With more than 200 drawings, paintings and sculptures and examples of mixed media in this year’s show, Cowgirl Up! offers a much broader landscape than the one usually found at a western art show.

“This is what makes Cowgirl Up! so unique,” Museum Curator Mary Ann Igna said. “We have artists stretching beyond traditional western art to embrace the West’s unique lifestyle and spirit. Of course, we also have our share of horses and steers, but even those are unusually dramatic.”

“It’s an amazing event; very professionally executed. I can‘t wait to return,” said Anne Coe, who has a studio in Apache Junction. Third-time participant Joni Falk couldn’t agree more. “This event helps the West’s women artists gain recognition and sell their work - definitely a win-win situation,” said the Phoenix painter. Also a third-time participant, Scottsdale’s Linda Glover Gooch is equally enthusiastic: “Allowing spectators to actually purchase the artworks has enhanced the popularity of Cowgirl Up! as a destination event; one that will continue to attract more and more people from out of state.”

More than an art exhibition and sale, Cowgirl Up! is a month-long celebration that kicks off with a whirlwind weekend of events Friday, March 28 through Monday, March 31.

Opening weekend events include an “Artists’ and Patrons’ Party” on Friday evening at historic Wickenburg’s Monte Vista Ranch. On Saturday at 1 p.m., Dr. Peter Hassrick from the Denver Art Museum will offer a rare look at early western women artists including Georgia O’Keeffe. The lecture to be held in the Sonoran Room at Wickenburg’s Rancho de los Caballeros is free for members and volunteers, and $10 for non-members.

Cowgirl Up!’s big opening night “Bash ‘n Bid” gala is on Saturday evening beginning at 4:30 p.m., and this year will feature an inaugural artists’ awards dinner and an auction of special works donated by artists. On Sunday morning, a Chuck Wagon Breakfast is planned for 8:30 a.m., to be followed by a lively artists’ “quick draw” and auction. Then on Monday at noon, Cowgirl Up! stages its weekend finale - a special event called “Lunch with a Legend,” which this year will honor “The Women of Double D Ranch” - the three sisters and their mother who have bucked the fashion world by turning western vintage and cowgirl glam into haute couture.

Cowgirl Up! Patron Package tickets are $200 per person for all Friday, Saturday and Sunday events; tickets for the Chuck Wagon Breakfast only are $20 each; and tickets for “Lunch with a Legend” are $30 each. For reservations and/or for more information, call 684-2272, ext. 100.

Following Cowgirl Up!’s opening night gala on Saturday, March 29, the show will be open to the public from Sunday, March 30 through Sunday, May 4. Entry to the special exhibition is included with regular museum admission.

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