(Vespers, 9 X 21 X 7 bronze sculpture by James Moore)
The High Desert Museum has unveiled its annual Art in the West juried exhibition and online silent auction, this year sharing the work of more than 70 regionally and nationally acclaimed artists and including more than 100 pieces.
Every year, Art in the West highlights art inspired by the landscapes, history, cultures and wildlife of the High Desert. The vast region stretches from the eastern slope of the Cascades and Sierras to the Wyoming Basin and Colorado Plateau.
Visitors will see an array of mediums in the show this year, from fused glass to feathers. The exhibit features sculptures, paintings and photography expressing responses to the region in mediums ranging from oil to acrylic, pastel to charcoal, mixed media to encaustic, and bronze to branches.
“We are thrilled to welcome new artists to the Art in the West exhibition this year — the wide diversity of artwork makes the exhibit engaging every year for Museum visitors,” said Museum Executive Director Dana Whitelaw, Ph.D. “Art enthusiasts are sure to find a favorite piece of the High Desert.
“The High Desert is often subtle—the vast skies, the green of the desert in spring, the rivers and tributaries, and the peoples whose cultures have flourished in this place for time immemorial,” continued Whitelaw. “This dynamic sparks an immense range of interpretations and creativity, and it makes Art in the West an engaging exhibition every year.”
The 2023 Art in the West Curator’s Choice Award goes to a new artist to the show, Taylor Manoles, for the 38” x 38” oil painting Painted Hills. Manoles lives in Bend and shows her work across the Pacific Northwest, as well as on various online platforms. Her artwork explores themes of faith and the human experience through contemporary landscapes. Painting is both a cathartic practice and how she celebrates and remembers the goodness in the world around her. In 2022, her painting Sparks Lake Sunrise was chosen for the cover of Southwest Art Magazine.
The 2023 Art in the West Jury’s Choice Award winner is Barbara Van Cleve. The acclaimed Montana-based photographer documents the beauty of the West through rich black-and-white photography. Van Cleve’s award-winning image, Moving On, a 16” x 20” archival pigment print, is one of several pieces the artist has in this year’s exhibition.
Van Cleve begged her parents for a Kodak Brownie box camera at age 11 to start chronicling her life growing up on a Montana ranch. She carried it everywhere, and as the years went on the gear changed but the habit didn’t. Today, Van Cleve has had over 100 one-person exhibitions and participated in 180 group exhibitions.
Additional renowned artists also featured in this year’s Art in the West include Dawn Emerson, Michael Weber, Kat Houseman, Robert Martinez and sculptor Rebecca Tobey, and past Art in the West winners Rudi Broschofsky, Sarah B. Hansen and Hadley Rampton.
Silent bidding is available online, with the opportunity to purchase artwork outright. A gallery guide of the exhibition artwork is on the Museum’s website at highdesertmuseum.org/aiw, as is bidding. Opening bids range from $225 to $8,500.
Bidding continues through the exhibition’s closing at 7pm on Friday, September 22.
Proceeds from Art in the West support the artists and the Museum’s exhibitions and programs, bringing science, art and history education to lifelong learners throughout the region.
Art in the West is made possible by American Art Collector and Western Art Collector magazines with support from CHUBB, High Desert Frameworks and Tetherow.