Art in the West 2024

Art in the West Winners – 2024

Buffalo Hunt under Three Stars by Monte Yellow Bird Sr.

Winner of the Jury’s Choice Award at the 2024 Art in the West exhibition

Monte O. Yellow Bird Sr., better known in the art world as Black Pinto Horse, is an Arikara/Hidatsa from the Three Affiliated Tribes and grew up in White Shield, North Dakota. The award-winning and internationally recognized artist has refined his heritage into a focal point, incorporating his tradition and spirituality through a contemporary form of visual art expression and education. He grew up on a reservation in a large family of limited means and discovered art at an early age. He attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at age 16. He studied studio art and history education at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota and graduated from Minot State University in Minot, North Dakota, with a bachelor’s degree in studio art. What began as a solution for a child’s idle hands turned into a path to heartfelt success and a lifelong journey to share culture and traditional teaching to worldwide audiences through artistic expression. Inspiration for his diversity of mediums, visual narratives and cultural subjects is influenced by his culture, his mother’s faith and teachings, his father’s dedication and tenacity, and all the people who share their world with him.

The Gift by Analee Fuentes

Winner of the Curator’s Choice Award at the 2024 Art in the West exhibition

Raised in the Southwest and an Oregonian since 1982, Fuentes comes from a family of artists, from painters to potters. Her Mexican and Cherokee heritage instilled in her an appreciation of bright colors and rich patterning that is the lens through which she views the world around her and Oregon’s great natural beauty. She spends much of her time outdoors in the summer, and even though Oregon is often a green-gray palette, she believes that the colors of the Northwest are comparable to any Southwest sunset. An avid fly-fisher and amateur birdwatcher, Fuentes feels most at home on the water. She has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. She has been a professional artist for more than 30 years, participating in many exhibitions, residencies and regional curatorships. Fuentes retired after teaching art for two decades at Linn–Benton Community College is a public community college in Albany, Oregon. She has juried many exhibitions in the region and has curated shows across the state. Her preferred mediums are oil paint and watercolor.

Banner image |  Crooked River Tranquility by Margaretha Linwood

Thank you for your interest in Art in the West. Please share this exhibit with friends, family and colleagues who are interested in collecting art while supporting regionally and nationally acclaimed artists and the High Desert Museum.

Jurors – 2024

Allyson Chomyn

Sponsorship Coordinator at American Art Collector

Phoenix, Arizona

Dustin Cockerham

Senior Curator of Exhibitions and Collections

Bend, Oregon

 

Sweet Pea Cole

Designer, printmaker and mixed media artist

Bend, Oregon

 

Charles Froelick

Founder of Froelick Gallery

Portland, Oregon

 

Wendy Johnson

High Desert Museum Supporter

Bend, Oregon

 

Cameron Kerr

Trustee, Collections Committee Chair and Lifetime Volunteer

Bend, Oregon

 

Alicia Renner

Designer and Maker at Howl Goods

Bend, Oregon

 

Ana Varas

Arts Program Manager at Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts

Sisters, Oregon