Buffalo Bill Center of the West | September 15-20, 2025 | Cody, WY

The Depth of the West

The Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale honors the West with a 100-artist exhibition.

By Alyssa M. Tidwell

This year’s Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, which runs from September 15 to 20, will feature more than 100 Western artists working in oil, watercolor, pastel, bronze and more. These works will be available to view at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West for a five-week exhibition before being sold at auction on Friday, September 19. A medley of exciting events will be taking place throughout the week in Cody, including a three-day painting workshop with Michael Ome Untiedt from September 15 to 17; a half-day scratchboard workshop with Sally Maxwell on September 18; a lunch and lecture on September 18; and the anticipated quickdraw and sale on September 20.

Jane Hunt, Sunset Cast, oil, 30 x 24 in.

“It’s such an honor to be included in this prestigious art event,” says artist Thomas Kegler, whose highly atmospheric painting Out of the Depths, Job 22:21 will be part of the 2025 show and sale. “This is my fifth year partaking, and Cody has become a second home for me. Our summer visits to Yellowstone and the surrounding areas over the last few years provides a never-ending stream of inspiration for the canvas,” he adds. Out of the Depths, Job 22:21 captures “a solitary, aged bison in the heart of Yellowstone, juxtaposed against the rising ethereal steam from a geothermal hot spring.”

Robert McFarland, End of the Ride, watercolor, 18 x 27 in.

Jane Hunt’s glowing landscape Sunset Cast depicts a father and child fishing on a quiet Western lake at dusk. “The figures are quite small, yet emotionally central; they hold the weight of memory,” says the artist. “This piece is about those quiet, golden moments that shape a lifetime, even if we don’t fully realize it at the time. The distant mountains offer a sense of place, while the sky and glowing water bathe it in a warm, reverent light. Every element is meant to evoke nostalgia and that spacious, contemplative feeling so often found in the West,” she says, adding that she’s called the American West home for more than 30 years and loves the diversity of perspectives in the Buffalo Bill Art Show.

LaQuincey Reed, Bill Pickett and Spradley, bronze, 18 x 13½ x 7½ in.

Sculptor LaQuincey Reed brings a bronze of Bill Pickett and his horse Spradley to the 2025 show. “Bill Pickett invented bulldogging and is a cowboy legend,” says Reed. Bulldogging, of course, being the rodeo event in which a rider on horseback chases a steer, then wrestles the steer to the ground by grabbing its horns and pulling it off balance. “This year will be very special to me. Last year, I got sick and hospitalized right before the live auction began,” Reed continues. “The community of artists and Cody residents embraced and provided exceptional care for my family and me. We’re so thankful that there are so many people willing to step up and help us. I truly believe the community of Cody and the participating artists help make this a great show every year.” —