National Western Stock Show: Special Events

2008 Buyers Guide

The 2008 Buyers Guide is NOW available.
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The 2009 Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale will open with a Red Carpet Reception on Wednesday, January 7, 2009. Advance reservations (prior to December 15, 2008) are $150.00 per person; after December 15th, they are $175.00. For additional information or to receive an invitation, please call the National Western, 303-299-5561 or e-mail. The exhibit will be open to the public each day during the entire run of the Stock Show, January 10-25.

The 2009 show will be the 17th annual exhibit, and we will be presenting over 60 fine artists, all known for their excellence in portraying the West. The exhibit contains works in many mediums and styles, ranging from traditional to contemporary, with images showing the many dimensions of western life. Check back in December for the 2009 Buyer's Guide.

Proceeds from the Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale benefit the National Western Scholarship Trust, which annually benefits college students in Colorado and Wyoming. Each year the Stock Show produces a poster by the featured artist, which is sold in the Coors Western Art Gallery during the show. Past posters are also available during the show. Posters can also be purchased throughout the year by calling the National Western office at 303-299-5561 or sending an e-mail. Postage is additional. Past posters may be viewed and purchased by clicking here. Only posters still available are listed.

Check back in October for the 2009 featured poster.

The Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale began as the joint inspiration of the Coors Brewing Company and the National Western Stock Show. Since 1993, Coors and the National Western have worked together to develop what is now considered one of the finest western art exhibits in the United States. We give special thanks to Swede Johnson for his inspiration and enthusiastic encouragement of the show. Swede believed that an art exhibit was a wonderful way to celebrate our western heritage and define the American West.

Mary Belle Grant was also one of the creators and early visionaries of the Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale. She served on the advisory committee from its inception to 1999, and every year had been a patron and passionate friend of the arts in the Denver community. In her memory, the Mary Belle Grant Award was created in 2000 to honor a person who embodies the spirit of the western way of life and symbolizes the passion of the West through art. Past honorees include William Matthews (2000), Barbara Van Cleve (2001), Bill Anton (2002), George Carlson (2003), Clyde Aspevig (2004), Susan Raymond (2005), Lewis W. "Pete" Douglas (2006), T.D. Kelsey (2007), and Janie Hutchison (2008).

Note: For the safety of the artwork, food, drink, photography, backpacks, cell phones and strollers are not allowed in the art gallery. Monitored storage for these items is provided upon entrance.

2009 Artist Application
The 2009 artist application deadline was the end of April. Check back in December for the 2010 application.

Featured Artist for 2009 -- M.W. Skip Whitcomb

Born in 1946, painter M.W. Skip Whitcomb has been interested in art since his childhood on a ranch near Sterling, Colorado; however, Whitcomb decided to pursue art professionally only after a university drawing professor provided the encouragement he needed. After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles in 1971, Whitcomb moved back to Colorado and became acquainted with the loosely-affiliated but highly energetic Denver group of traditional painters, draftsmen, and sculptors that were instrumental in helping him become established as an artist. He has been painting ever since.Read More...

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