The Old West always seems to be male territory, but the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame was founded in 1975 to remind everyone that women won and built the West, too — and play a big (and growing) role nowadays. I first learned about it when it opened in a new building in Fort Worth in 2002, supported by the Basses and the Waltons, among others. Highlighting artists, writers and performers is part of the Hall’s mission.
Every year the Hall hosts a Heart of the West art exhibition and sale that focuses on female Western artists, increasing their exposure to curators and collectors. The Heart exhibition began last Thursday and runs through Oct. 25. The sale takes place on Oct. 16 at a gala.
Over the years, not many — not any, really — women have broken into the top ranks of Western artists, like Remington and Russell, unless you count Georgia O’Keeffe. Some experts do — B. Byron Price, to name one. He’s an advisor to the Heart show as well as the Charles Marion Russell Chair and director of the Center for the Study of the Art of the American West at the University of Oklahoma, among other things.
I asked Price whose names we should know, and he cited as “of interest and note”:
- Frances Flora (Fanny) Palmer, a prominent mid-19th century artist for Currier and Ives, who did western themed work that was reproduced as popular prints and engravings.
- Mary Hallock Foote, prominent late 19th and early 20th century illustrator of western-based stories in national magazines.
- Grace Carpenter Hudson, California painter of Native Americans.
- Mary Elizabeth Achey and Helen Henderson Chain, prominent, late 19th century Colorado artists, with a regional following.
- Catherine Carter Critcher (1868 – 1964), first and only female member of the Taos Society of Artists.
What about today’s crop of Western women artists?
For that, I went to the Heart page, which features works by 42 artists; you can see that lineup here. I browsed myself, picking a few to showcase here, then decided to seek the advice, too, of arts writer Leanne Goebel, who is based in southern Colorado and has seen much more of this work in person than I have.
Seen here are works by three artists we both selected: top to bottom, Andrea, by Tammy Garcia; Sunrise Song, by Louisa McElwain; Bridget, by Glenna Goodacre.
At the annual luncheon on Oct. 16, the Cowgirl Hall of Fame will also be inducting four members, including Mary Jane Colter, an architect (1869-1958) who designed 11 buildings that are on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Photos: Courtesy of the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame