Proud of western heritage: Artists form global perceptions of the west

CHEYENNE — Open landscapes, majestic wildlife and the rustic cowboy lifestyle inspired art in the United States well before westward expansion brought colonizers in large numbers to the Rocky Mountains.

While tourists come to Cheyenne to attend the rodeo and embrace western culture in July, Western artists work year-round to capture the spirit of the West.

Organizers of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Western Art Show and Sale do their best to display that work. The variety of work isn’t limited by the medium or subject matter, according to CFD Old West Museum art show and events coordinator Amanda Marshall.

“We get a whole range of things,” Marshall said. “We have a lot of people who do very traditional artwork, and then also people who are doing more contemporary pop artwork or collages or different mediums to portray their interpretation of the West.”

Two of this year’s artists, Don Weller and Marlin Rotach, made their careers demonstrating their watercolor prowess.

“I just want more people to appreciate it,” Rotach said. “Watercolor has been given a bad rap. People think it’s not permanent, which is not true. … People have a preconceived idea that they’re washy and faded looking, and if you look at my work, it sure isn’t.”

Growing up with a love for Western movies and western culture, both Weller and Rotach have focused their work on horses and the cowboy lifestyle, with distinctly different approaches.

Based out of Kansas, Rotach’s work is rich and vibrant, with well-developed detail and depth. He has continued to work with watercolor, earning several awards. He returns to CFD to gather new material, inspired by the rodeo.

Weller worked with watercolor for decades. However, once he began to experience macular degeneration, he began to work more with oil paints. After a day’s riding horses in Utah, he returns to depict his experiences on canvas.

Passionate about watercolor, the two wrote a book together titled “The River Flows: Watercolors of the American West.”

“There’s a place for abstract art, and if you like it and you understand it, it’s as good as anything else,” Weller said. “... But (for me with) Western art, you look at it and it connects on a different level.”

Western art communicates a culture and a lifestyle. Growing up in Cheyenne, Brandon Bailey has lived the life of a cowboy. His work depicts both historical scenes and inspiration from his own life, Bailey told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Now living in Nebraska, he draws inspiration from Lakota land near his home and his own Indigenous heritage as a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

“I felt I could take the time and do the research I needed to do to get the Native American work correct, because there’s so much that goes into it, you almost have to be part historian,” Bailey said. “If you’re going to do a Lakota scene from 1860, you have to have the beadwork right, the clothing right. … To me, authenticity is the most important part.”

Several Western artists see the history of the West as a huge part of their work. Authenticity to the current state of western culture matters a lot to Montana sculptor Scott Hayes.

“(I) tell a story of how it used to be and how it is now, as far as enjoying the wilderness and getting away from the hustle and bustle of the world,” Hayes said. “It’s nice to be able to portray that.”

Though his work is inspired by traditional subjects such as moose and bears, his art is hardly typical. Hayes combines bronze sculptures with original carvings in antlers and sheep horns.

He plays to whimsical and sometimes humorous aspects of man and nature. In his sculpture “Bearly Worth It,” Hayes constructed a bear running away with a cooler of fish, losing several as he seemingly runs away.

Historic authenticity was essential to accurately describing the West.

“(Prior to cameras) the only way that people would be able to share an experience was through art in the eyes of the artist,” CFD Old West Museum assistant director/curator Mike Kassel said. “And the artists themselves sometimes went out there looking for the new and the adventurous, as well.”

Art helped to expose the West to the world, Kassel told the WTE. How that’s being done is evolving with time.

Daniel Hachard represents a growing movement of pop artists exploring Western subjects.

Inspired by Andy Warhol and Billy Schenck, major pop artists who have also explored western subjects, Hachard is the first pop artist to be in the CFD Western Art Show, though he has shown at the Old West Museum several times before, Marshall said.

Hachard didn’t grow up in the West. Raised in France, he was exposed to it through movies and Western media, wanting to experience it himself from a young age.

Spending most of his adult life in California, he explored western culture in Texas, Wyoming and several other states.

“To me, it’s undeniable that the American West has always been a beacon of civilization,” Hachard said. “Going back to early Americans, Spanish conquest, the western frontier and really all the way through today’s branches, lifestyles and culture. (Including) the Native Americans (who) were weaved into that narrative, often was really poorly represented until recently. So, I wanted to see this for myself.”

Hachard’s crisp line work and bright palette are remnants of his work in advertising and graphic design. His move to pop art was to create for himself, and those works were well received at the art show.

“I was very surprised, but I was able to sell my four paintings within one hour of the opening,” Hachard said. “Paintings that are, in a sense, different from the rest of the show because that show is fairly traditional Western art. And somehow I was able to attract quite a few people that were very interested in buying my paintings.”

The landscape of Western art has grown substantially since its start in the 1800s, and however artists choose to appreciate western culture, CFD does its best to display their work.

“We have some of the very best artists who have amazing sensitivities and amazing techniques that are unique and capture through their own mind’s eye what the American West means to them,” Kassel said. “The artist is always at the forefront of trying to depict the West as they see it, or as they know it. (They) helped define what western society and our own perception of the West is, and that’s why I think the West is so incredible.”

The culture around Western art has grown substantially in recent years, spiking interest through shows like “Yellowstone,” Bailey told the WTE.

“We’re seeing (interest) from people that grew up in cities, going out and putting cowboy hats on just because they think it’s cool, and I think that’s cool,” Bailey said. “It’s a fun time to be a Western artist.”

For artist like Rotach, the work is also ensuring that this type of art continues to be made, as it is so unique to North America.

“(Western art) is so uniquely American,” Rotach said. “North America is where you’re going to find the cowboys, particularly in the United States, particularly in the West. … It just makes me proud to be an American.”