FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Veryl Goodnight Exhibition to be Featured in the National Cowgirl Museum
“No Turning Back: The Art of Veryl Goodnight” Opens July 22 in the Anne W. Marion Gallery
FORT WORTH, TEXAS (May 24, 2016) – The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame – the only museum in the world dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage in their trailblazing efforts – is pleased to welcome to the Anne W. Marion Gallery “No Turning Back: The Art of Veryl Goodnight.” The exhibition will be available for public viewing July 22 – Oct. 30, 2016.
The exhibition will feature 17 sculptures and 11 paintings that focus on Western women, horses, and wildlife. This is a different kind of exhibit for Goodnight than her previous exhibition as it will include both sculpture and paintings together, and shows a broad array of her work.
“As I look at the floor plan for the retrospective, it takes me back through so many journeys which began with longing to own a horse and a dog as a child, to having a longhorn cow in a suburb of Denver while sculpting my first monument,” said Goodnight. “The art selected for the show spans over 29 years. For the past five years, I have completed only one sculpture per year, spending the balance of my time painting.”
“I think visitors will especially enjoy the aspect of story-telling that Goodnight includes with her exhibition,” said Dr. Diana Vela, National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame Associate Executive Director, Exhibits and Education. “The pairing of some paintings and sculptures lends itself to making connections between the mediums, and Goodnight also has recorded audio content for this exhibition.”
Goodnight’s career started as a wildlife painter in the early 1970’s. She began sculpting to educate herself about anatomy. Sculpture then dominated her career throughout the late 1990’s while in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her move back to Colorado in 2006 intensified her desire to return to oil painting.
Goodnight has completed over 200 sculptures and 20 life-size or larger monuments to date. All of the works have reflected her Western roots. The most notable is “The Day the Wall Came Down,” a seven ton bronze sculpture consisting of five larger than life-size horses jumping over the fallen Berlin Wall. The United States Air Force delivered this monument to Berlin, Germany, in 1998. A sister casting is installed at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.
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About the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame honors and celebrates women, past and present, whose lives exemplify the courage, resilience, and independence that helped shape the American West, and fosters an appreciation of the ideals and spirit of self-reliance they inspire. The Hall of Fame’s purpose is twofold: to preserve the history and impact of Western women living from the mid-1800s to present day, and to foster an appreciation for their ideals and spirit of self-reliance. These women are the legacy of legends — artists and writers, champions and competitive performers, entertainers, ranchers (stewards of land and livestock), trailblazers and pioneers. The Museum is considered an invaluable national educational resource for its exhibits, research library, rare photograph collection, and award-winning distance-learning programs for grades K-12 and adults.
Located at 1720 Gendy Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76107, the Cowgirl is open Monday (Memorial Day to Labor Day) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for children ages 3 to 12 and senior citizens (60+) and $10 for adults (ages 13+). For more information, please visit www.cowgirl.net or call 817-476-FAME (3263).
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MEDIA CONTACT
Tara Trask
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