Winston Publishing

34 • portfolio Western Heritage Art Show Footprints on the Trail western heritage artist association art show M ontanans know that rodeos tend to be at the heart of many epic western gatherings, so it only seems appropriate that the Western Heritage Artists Association (WHA) decided to add one to their Western Art Week lineup – albeit with an artistic flair, of course. Now in its second year at the WHA Footprints on the Trail show, the two-day Western Art Rodeo Association (WARA) Jackpot event is the brainchild of Jeff Wolf. Wolf, a bronze sculptor out of Spanish Fork, Utah, also happens to have been a top competitor in the world of professional rodeo. "My subject matter includes Native American, western, wildlife and everything in between," Wolf laughs. "I sculpted everything from football players to angels." In 2006, Wolf combined his passions for art and rodeo to create a competition model for artist-contestants to showcase their work. Contestants submit two pieces of artwork – one in each of the two rounds – which are scored on seventeen basic art principles in front of a live audience by a panel of three judges. The artist with the highest combined scores between the two rounds will be declared the winner. "The audience loved it, and I know the contestants really enjoyed it," Wolf says of last year's art rodeo. "We got a lot of phenomenal feedback from everyone who came to be a part of it." Visitors also enjoy being able to watch the judging process in action. "They really remarked about how the judges explained why they judged the way they did," Wolf notes. "Most judging is done behind closed doors and you never know how it was picked, but this lets the crowd be a part of everything." Round one of the WARA Jackpot will take place from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Friday, and the second round will be held from noon until 2 p.m. on Saturday. But before all the wild, fast-paced action gets underway, visitors can enjoy meeting with the nearly 60 WHA artists whose artwork will be on display throughout two floors of the Holiday Inn. In addition to his display at the WHA show, renowned landscape and wilderness painter Allen Jimmerson will also have an acrylic on linen piece available in Friday's Russell Auction. The Columbia Falls artist's original painting, "The Visionaries," depicts a scene on the banks of Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park. "The Blackfeet Indians camped and lived in this exact location long ago before it was established as a National Park," Jimmerson explains. "I wanted to capture a little bit of the life of the tribes that lived there." Many of the longtime WHA show artist's pieces are focused on the northwest area of Montana and the Glacier National Park area. "I paint real places and subjects from my outdoor experience," Jimmerson says. This year's featured artist is the late wildlife painter Robert Walton, who had been a valued member of the WHA for over 25 years when he passed away in May of 2019. His last wish was to have his work on display in the show, just as he had for nearly three decades. Walton, an avid outdoorsman and mountain climber, first picked up a paintbrush when he was in his thirties. Within a few years, he was a full-time western artist. One of his original works is on display at the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C., and he is also the creator of a 6,356-square-foot mural located in Heppner, By Holly Matkin

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