National Western Stock Show | January 8, 2026 | Denver, CO

Boots Up!

The Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale will unveil its 2026 show in a stunning new venue.

By Michael Clawson

While discussing the 2026 Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale, curator Kate Hlavin remarked how the new Coorsvenue, The Legacy, will impress visitors at this year’s show. “It’s going to blow everyone’s socks off,” she said. Pausing, searching for an edit, she chimed back in: “No, it’s going to knock their boots off.”

Whitney Gardner, Haven, oil on linen panel, 30 x 30 in.

The Legacy project has been a frequent subject at the Coors Art Exhibit, and has been mentioned in many of the past shows—sometimes just as a fleeting idea carried by the wind—but this year’s show has a physical location, and it’s already completed.

“People will really be blown away. It does not compare to any Western art venue,” Hlavin says. “The scale, the architecture, the finish of the whole site…it is an iconic piece of the West in Denver. The building will be the headquarters of the National Western Stock Show and will host events year-round, as well as Young Guns in December and Coors in January.” Hlavin adds that she’s already curated an inaugural exhibition, Along the Trail, that will be on view during Coors.

Sophy Brown, Moving On and Taking My Baggage with Me, acrylic on board, 58 ¾ x 48 in.

Located near the former Coors location, Legacy, along with Hlavin’s recent leadership, offers a near complete reset on the popular Coors Western Art Exhibit. More than 400 pieces of art from 85 artists will be in the show. Once again, the show will offer a thought-provoking mixture of traditional and contemporary Western art, including art that explores the present-day West from the perspective of the land, wildlife and the people who call it home. “The theme of the show is what makes it so unique. We tell the story of the West through ranching, wildlife, landscapes and people. When I walk through the show and view the art, I get excited and I feel an energy in the artwork,” she says. “I love that Western art can be such a complex term. All of the work is by living artists, so it’s all contemporary. What makes it unique is all the different interpretations by those artists. When people talk about ‘traditional versus contemporary,’ I see it all as Western art that falls under the umbrella of American art.”

Jennifer Johnson, Longhorn Legend, oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in.

Artists in this year’s show include William Alther, Bill Anton, Brandon Bailey, Nancy Bass, Thomas Blackshear II, Teal Blake, Shawn Cameron, Danny Galieote, Donna Howell-Sickles, Josh LaRock, William Matthews, Joseph McGurl, Jay Moore, James Morgan, Chad Poppleton, Howard Post, Dave Santillanes, Ezra Tucker, Carrie Wild, Dennis Ziemienski and many others. Logan Maxwell Hagege is the 2026 featured artist.

The Coors show has a long reputation of bringing in top women artists at a higher percentage than other shows, and this year is no exception with a strong showing that includes Colorado painter Jennifer Johnson, who will be participating at her third Coors.

Jan Mapes, Crazy Horn, bronze, 21 x 13 x 8 in.

“The new venue is exciting, but I also really enjoy the connection to the stock show, especially when you really get into that environment. The sounds and smells of the rodeo… I just love it because it adds the whole experience,” Johnson says. “The show has been on the cutting edge of what Western can be for a long time. I kind of hang there outside the box, so a show like Coors is perfect for what I’m trying to accomplish with my own work.”

Johnson also notes how Coors sets the tone for the coming year. “It’s the first show of the season, so it’s the kick-off, which helps establish the vibe for the rest of the year,” she adds.

Greg Newbold, Daydreaming, oil on canvas, 28½ x 44½ in.

Another artist in her third year is Whitney Gardner, who will be showing a mixture of landscapes and floral images. “It’s an exciting show because it’s a museum-quality show but it’s a timed event. You have to show up and see it all at once, because it won’t keep hanging or return later. What the artists bring is what you see right then and there, and then it all goes away. That’s an interesting component to me,” she says. “I also think the crowd itself is an important part of the show. They, along with the artists, represent a diverse slice of the West—different age groups and cultural backgrounds, different places they are coming from, different styles among the artists. It’s fun to see these varieties of people come together to get excited about art and to submerge themselves in Western culture.”

Karmel Timmons, Flying, colored pencils, 27 x 26 in.

Ezra Tucker, Twins, acrylic on canvas, 49 x 39 in.

Also returning is Sophy Brown, who will be showing her works that blend traditional subjects with contemporary design. One of her new pieces is Moving On and Taking My Baggage With Me, which shows a pack horse amid an abstracted, graffiti-like background. “Moving On and Taking My Baggage With Me is about being on the threshold of a decisive change and the complications that go along with that," she says. “Untethered, the horse stands packed and ready to go in a confusing pictorial space which I see as a sort of psychological landscape, an expression of a state of mind. Some of what is behind is still catching his eye, and the blue trickles into the clearer space ahead. There is hesitation but the wind is behind him; his front foot is just leaving the ground. It is quite a personal painting, a sort of self-portrait,” Brown says. “The Coors Western Art show has been a highlight of my year for a long time just as it is for so many others. The [National Western Stock Show] brings art, agriculture and all things Western together in a truly one-of-a-kind way that draws people from all over the country. Of course, the show is making some pretty big changes this year moving into its brand-new building. I can’t wait to see it.”

Donna Howell-Sickles, Paper Cowgirls, mixed media on panel, 44 x 30 in.

The show will take place on January 8 at the Legacy building in Denver. The ticketed red-carpet reception will include food, drinks and the by-draw sale. The sale will use Handbid, an digital platform that will allow guests to bid on the artwork, even if bidders can’t be in the room. Handbid will be available as an app and a website, and bidders are encouraged to register prior to the January 8 sale.

In addition to the reception, Coorswill also offer the Winter West Symposium from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on January 8. The ticketed event will focus on Colorado artists for the panel discussion. Guests include J.R. Henneman, curator at the Denver Art Museum; Allyson Shuemaker, executive director at the A.R. Mitchell; and artist Dan Young. Hagege will give the keynote presentation.