Cowgirl Up! art fest to ‘buck up a storm’

‘Mona Lisa West’ by Nancy Denzler

Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West Exhibition & Sale runs March 30 through May 4 at Wickenburg’s Desert Caballeros Western Museum.

Cowgirl Up! is back at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg for its third high-spirited year. Spunkier than ever, bolder than ever, the exhibition plans to once again buck up a storm as its shows off more than 200 paintings and sculptures by the West’s best women artists.

From paintings that put a fresh western spin on the iconic images of the Mona Lisa and the Madonna to horses and cows that nearly gallop off the canvas - or their pedestals - Cowgirl Up is as much about the “spirit of the West” as it is about western art, according to its organizers.

“The West offers a broad canvas,” said Museum Executive Director Royce Kardinal, “and nowhere is that more apparent than in the art of our 56 very different artists who share very different visions of the West.”

The eclectic show with its quiet landscapes, haunting portraits, classical western scenes and contemporary bursts of color, has drawn crowds in the two previous years, and is expected to bring in record numbers again.

“Cowgirl Up! is buckin’ up a storm,” said Kardinal. “In our first two years, we raised nearly $1.5 million with 70 percent of the proceeds going to the artists themselves. That’s at least one hole in the ‘leather ceiling’ that has traditionally held back the progress of western women artists.”

Yet, despite bigger sales for the artists, the Wickenburg show and sale continues to offer a range of prices making the art still affordable for those who are just beginning to collect.

“That is another big draw of Cowgirl Up!,” remarked Kardinal. “Both experienced and emerging collectors are equally pleased by what they find.”

Cowgirl Up! opens Sunday (March 30) and runs through Sunday, May 4. The opening weekend celebration includes the show’s big “Bash ‘n Bid” on Saturday, (March 29) where buyers get first dibs on the art. Other opening weekend highlights include a Saturday afternoon lecture on historically important western women artists; a Chuck Wagon Breakfast, Artists’ Quick Draw and Auction on Sunday and a special finale event called “Lunch with a Legend” on Monday. This year’s honored guests for the lunch will be Texas mavericks and founders of Double D Ranchwear - three sisters and a mom who have bucked the traditional fashion world by turning western fringe and frills 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.

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