Cowboy Artists Lose Home Base

April 6, 2011

I heard from a reputable source last weekend that the Cowboy Artists of America have lost their home at the Phoenix Art Museum. The scuttlebutt is that last year's show barely broke even and the museum did not renew their contract.

Just got off the phone with a reporter from the Arizona Republic about it, confirming that it is true. Sales have declined and they have lost many of their big name artists, with the new guys not pulling the prices. Another complaint is that the artists were showing the B stuff and saving bigger paintings for other shows. Not sure about that, but someone who is inside the bubble told me that. In terms of longevity, the CAA has lasted some 40 years, which is longer than the Taos 7, or the Ash Can Boys.

Personally, I loved the CA show and tried to go every year. One rumor is that the Phoenix Art Museum is going to create a show to replace the CA, but open it up to a broader audience, meaning more than cows and cowboys.

Speaking of old ideas made new, we are all waiting for Cowboys & Aliens to come out, and I ran across this old comic book, which predates C&A by about half a century.

Spoke to a home school class at Desert Willow Park this morning about history. Great group of kids.

Afterwards had lunch with Sue Lambert at El Encanto to talk about True West business ($25, I bought, biz account).

Back to new ideas and history repeating itself, as Harry Truman succinctly put it:

"The only thing new in this world is the history you don't know."
—Harry Truman