COORS WESTERN ART EXHIBIT & SALE

Denver

News: If the Red Carpet Reception for the 2024 Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale is any indication, organizers of the 118th National Western Stock Show had better buckle up for a record-breaking ride.

A record crowd of 1,000 turned out for the Jan. 3 event where art enthusiasts from throughout the Rocky Mountain region enjoyed drinks, a buffet dinner and the opportunity to have first crack at the 470 works that are part of the annual show and sale that is open to the public during the Stock Show’s 16-day run.

Chairman Lewis Wilks said that he expected sales that night to top $500,000 and, if all goes well, “We should have over $1 million in total sales” by the show’s end.

Wilks, managing partner at Bright Peaks Capital, is in his fourth year as chairman of the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale.

His co-chair, Holly Anderson, has been involved with the event for 10 years, starting out with the Young Guns of the National Western, a group of young professionals who want to gain a better understanding of Western art and how to invest in it while supporting the National Western Stock Show.

Anderson also encourages an even younger generation to learn more about Western art through her daughters, aged 9 and 6, who invite their friends to take part in a scavenger hunt inside the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale galleries.

“They have a lot of fun while learning something new,” Anderson said.

Angela Lieurance, director of the National Western Stock Show’s $150 million Honoring the Legacy…Building the Future Campaign, said 2024 is shaping up as a record year for everything Stock Show-related.

“The Young Guns sold more tickets than ever for their show preview. The Red Carpet Reception is sold out. So is the Citizen of the West dinner, the Boots ‘n Business Luncheon and Cowgirls & Cocktails,” she said. Cowgirls & Cocktails, on Jan. 16, is a benefit for Honoring the Legacy; the others raise money for the National Western Scholarship Trust.

Roger Hutson, president/CEO of HRM Resources and a longtime Stock Show supporter, said he feels this “Speaks to a resurgence of the Western spirit and values.”

Joseph McGurl of Cataumet, Mass., is this year’s featured artist and has 13 pieces in the show, including Morning Light on a Western Landscape, which has been purchased for the show’s permanent collection. “I love the West and its scenery, but especially its light,” McGurl said.

“To me, what makes Western art so unique is the emotion it provides,” said show curator Kate Hlavin. “Whether it is a cowboy wrangling a group of steers, a magnificent sunset over the mountains or horses galloping in a field, this exhibition explores the themes that have historically shaped Western art.”

Molson Coors Beverage Company is the exhibition’s title sponsor, and Coors family members attending the Red Carpet Reception included Pete Coors, chairman of the Honoring the Legacy campaign and a member of the National Western board of directors, and his wife, Marilyn; Carrie Coors Tynan, Peter and Meredith Coors and David and Molly Coors.

Fellow directors Doug Jones, Terrance Carroll and Brooke Fox also were there, along with Sean and Audra McNicholas (he is CEO of SSA Group, which has been a Stock Show concessionaire for some 50 years); UMB Bank’s Mariner Kemper; Eileen and David Morton of Andrisen Morton men’s clothing boutique in Cherry Creek North; artist William Matthews and his wife, Laura Barton; Brian and Shelley Hart from Frame de Art Custom Framing; and Rockmount Ranchwear’s Steve and Wendy Weil.

About the organization: Curated by Kate Hlavin (cq) and coordinated by Grace Weihs, the show is open to the public during the run of the 2024 National Western Stock Show. Entry is free with grounds admission. It is held in the Coors Western Art Gallery on the third floor of the Stock Show’s Exhibition Hall, 4655 Humboldt St.

Website: coorswesternart.com

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