Wildlife Art Sales Successful at Western Visions®

September 27, 2019

Jackson, Wyo. –More than 1,600 people from around the world attended the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s 32nd Annual Western Visions Show & Sale events in September, including top contemporary and traditional wildlife artists and collectors. The museum showcased well-established, top-selling, and influential talents as today’s leading wildlife artists. Western Visions stands as a cornerstone of the annual Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival.

This year’s event was a success with total revenue estimated to be more than $600,000. On Thursday the sketch portion sold during the Artist Party, while premier works sold Friday at the Show & Sale. 105 artists contributed 172 artworks.

“Beginning with our Jewelry Luncheon, through the Show & Sale to the closing Sunday Brunch, it thrills me to be surrounded by the loyal attendees, generous sponsors, and the Western Visions artists,” says Amy Goicoechea, Director of Programs and Events. “We join together at the National Museum of Wildlife Art to celebrate and fund the excellence of this Museum today as the Artwork displayed and sold embodies the mission to explore and inspire humanity’s relationship with nature.”

“Once again, Western Visions events were an extraordinary confluence of great art and wonderful friends,” said Sue Simpson Gallagher, Western Visions Committee Co-Chair. “The exhibition truly spoke to this exciting moment in wildlife art when the interest and opportunity for artists and collectors alike is at an unprecedented high.”

Special congratulations to the 2019 award winners:
Lindsay Scott’s painting, Young Bloods, won the Red Smith Award chosen by the artists. Over 1,600 votes were tallied to determine Mary Roberson’s I Heart Lobo as the People’s Choice recipient. Steve Devenyns captured the Bob Kuhn Sketch Award for Back Country Blessings. Mark Eberhard’s It Takes a Village was acquired into the Museum’s acclaimed permanent collection because it won the Trustee’s Purchase Award.

One very special award was given this year during Western Visions festivities. African-based artist Robert Glen received the Rungius Medal. The Trustees of the National Museum of Wildlife Art grant the Rungius Medal in recognition of lifetime or exceptional contribution to the awareness of wildlife and the habitat necessary for its survival. “I am deeply honored to receive the Carl Rungius gold medal, I was even more touched that Bill Kerr presented it to me in person,” said Robert Glen. “This was indeed a very special moment in my life.” A total of 19 medals have been awarded since 1988. Recipients include: Mardy Murie, Bob Kuhn, Jane Goodall, and E.O. Wilson. Prior to last week, the most recent medal was given to Joel Sartore in 2017.

The Western Visions Show & Sale remains on exhibit through Sunday, October 6.

Thank you to the Western Visions 2019 sponsors:
Richard C. Adkerson Family Foundation, Peggy & Lowry Mays – Mays Family Foundation, Lynn & Foster Friess, Ingram Quarter Horses, Jackson Hole Fine Art Fair, Gallatin Wealth Management, Willow Street Trust Company of Wyoming, Val & Dick Beck, Robert S. & Grayce B. Kerr Foundation, Ellen & Peter Safir, Stringer Family Foundation, Marcia & Mike Taylor, Jan & Bob Benz, Creative Curiosity, Hindman Auctions, Jackson Hole Insurance, Schmidt’s Custom Framing, Simpson Gallagher Gallery, Turner Fine Art, Pearls by Shari, Gather/Palate, Fine Art Connoisseur.

Mary Roberson, I Heart Lobo. Oil on Wood. 48 x 48 in.

Mark Eberhard, right, and his wife, Alice Eberhard, left.

Robert Glen with the Rungius Medal.

The National Museum of Wildlife Art, a nonprofit founded in 1987, is a world-class art museum holding more than 5,000 artworks representing wild animals from around the world. Featuring work by prominent artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Robert Kuhn, John James Audubon, and Carl Rungius, the Museum’s unsurpassed permanent collection chronicles much of the history of wildlife in art, from 2500 B.C. to the present. Built into a hillside overlooking the National Elk Refuge, the Museum received the designation “National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States” by order of Congress in 2008. Boasting a Museum shop, interactive children’s gallery, Palate restaurant, and outdoor sculpture trail, the Museum is only two-and-a-half miles north of Jackson Town Square, and two miles from the gateway of Grand Teton National Park. www.WildlifeArt.org

INTERVIEWS & IMAGES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
Media Contact: Taylor Woods, Marketing Manager, (307)732-5437, twoods@wildlifeart.org