Passionate bidding, a nail-biting draw and strong sales greeted the Cowboy Artists of America as the art group returned to Fort Worth, Texas, for the 56th annual exhibition and sale. By the end of the second day, the influential group of painters and sculptors has realized more than $1.3 million in sales with 76 percent of artwork sold.
The show, held at the Will Rogers Memorial Center and supported by the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, brought out hundreds of collectors and dozens of the CA artists. 
The Cowboy Artists of America members.“Cowboy Artists of America are at home in Fort Worth,” says outgoing CA president Bruce Greene. “Fort Worth is a city that loves the West and the beauty of the genre. With just three years under our belts in Fort Worth, it looks like we’ll have many more successful years to come.”
In addition to the sale and reception, the annual event included an autograph session and a special panel that included CA artists Fred Fellows and Bill Nebeker, Booth Museum executive director Seth Hopkins, poet and musician Red Steagall and Jody Beeler, son of CA founder Joe Beeler. 
Phil Epp, The Long Road, oil, 30 x 40”. Winner of the Anne Marion Best of Show Award.
The highest-selling piece was Greene’s oil Out of Nowhere that sold for $57,000. Other top-selling artists were Martin Grelle, Mikel Donahue, Phil Epp and C. Michael Dudash. New member Brandon Bailey stunned collectors with a sold-out showing.
Gold-medal award winners included Dudash in the oil painting category, Donahue in mixed media, Epp in water soluble, Greene in the sculpture category and Tyler Crow in drawings. Epp won the Anne Marion Best of Show award for his work The Long Road. Donahue won the Ray Swanson Memorial Award, Grant Redden won for the best overall exhibition and Oreland Joe and Nebeker won silver awards.
The CA is already fast at work on next year’s show, trail ride and educational opportunities, including events for young people. The group has made a tremendous effort to bring students into art opportunities and that effort will continue. “Some of these students had never seen anything like the art we’ve been exposed to all of our lives,” says Greene. “It was truly wonderful to meet these young people and open the door to the different mediums that encompass the genre.” —
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