Telling Stories On Canvas

Quality From Across The Nation: Alban wins prestigious John Steven Jones Award at 39th Annual Bosque Arts Center Art Classic; Jones receive special appreciation

CLIFTON – The Bosque Arts Center is dedicated to the promotion and support of the performing and visual arts in Bosque County and surrounding area. The non-profit community entity in Clifton is often referred to as a beacon of light on the hill, drawing people in to experience the arts in all its facets.

Close to 290 people came to the opening night of the Bosque Arts Center’s 39th Annual Bosque Art Classic. The juried representational Western art exhibition is widely known for the variety of quality work it draws from across the nation. The exhibition, sponsored by the BAC's Art Council, displays wonderful works of art depicting the traditional cowboy way, Native American culture, exquisite still life pieces, sweeping landscapes and nostalgic scenes, breathtaking wildlife, gripping portraits, and beloved farm animals.

Every brushstroke in every piece in this exceptional exhibition and sale tells a beautiful and artistic story; each composition captures a special mood or scene; each piece grabs onto the viewers imagination and are worth seeing up close, in situ in the exquisite Roland Jones Memorial Gallery.

“We are also grateful for the artists who submit their artwork,” Cornett said. “We have national recognition and get the best of the best entering our show. Each year we don't think we can top the previous year, but the show seems to just get better and better. I actually heard from several people that they thought this might be the best show ever.”

For many artists, being selected and judged by the nationally acclaimed and very successful Cowboy Artist of America Martin Grelle this year was a great honor in itself. Together with other Bosque Seven members Tony Eubanks and Bruce Greene CA, Grelle serves as advisor to the BAC Art Council.

A Clifton native as well as a Cowboy Artist of America member and leader since 1995, Grelle produced more than 30 solo exhibitions, and winning awards of both regional and national importance at shows around the country, including Gold Medal Oil at the 2023 Cowboy Artists of America show. Throughout his years of enriching the world of art with his excellence in painting, Grelle has also continued to be an inspiration to others, mentoring and encouraging artists in the tradition of early mentors James Boren and Melvin Warren.

Among his many honors – which include being a three-time winner of the Prix de West Buyers’ Choice Award – Grelle received the Briscoe Museum’s Legacy Award for his impact on the world of western art, as well as the Booth Museum’s Artist of Excellence Award. In 2021, the Texas Senate recognized Grelle’s lifelong contributions to the arts, hailing him as a “Texas Treasure” whose work “is an enduring homage to the beauty of the Lone Star State.”

“It was wonderful having Martin judge this year. We learned a lot from his perspective on the different media.” BAC Art Council President Karen Cornett said. “It is so difficult to pick the winners and a lot of time and consideration in put in by our judge. We are overjoyed with the quality of art this year and with the selections Martin made.”

From a staggering 678 entries, Grelle made a selection of 179 pieces to be hung in the exhibit. The works from 105 – both talented newcomers as established award-winning – artists adorn the Roland Jones Memorial Gallery for the coming two weeks, with the new lighting bringing out the best in the artwork.

“We marvel at the talent as we unpack each piece and feel great pride in the show once it is hung,” Cornett said. “We have great volunteers who put in so much time and effort to make the show come together. It takes days to take down the permanent collection, unpack the art, sort it by media and then hang it.”

Besides Cornett’s words during the Awards Dinner last Saturday thanking the volunteers, the BAC staff, board members, the sponsors and the art patrons, there was more deep gratitude and gratefulness shared by Kathleen Sharp, and CA artist Bruce Green.

Sharp read the “Special Thanks” from the Art Classic brochure for her parents Joyce and Roland Jones, who inspired, encouraged and supported many artists, helping them fulfill their dreams. Thirty-five years ago they cemented their legacy at the BAC by instating the John Steven Jones Purchase Award and creating the Roland Jones Memorial Gallery. The gallery houses the art center’s permanent collection, and as such, tells the story of the art show grown from a seed of inspiration planted by Joan Spieler into the nationally renowned exhibition it is today.

“We owe so much of its success to Joyce and Roland, who took the reins of the show in its infancy at request of Spieler,” the brochure states. “They sponsored it for many years, traveling all over the country with a suitcase full of slides to have the show juried each year by quality judges. Back in Clifton they scrubbed floors, moved panels, hung lights, folded napkins – did anything else required to set the stage for a grand weekend celebrating the arts – and welcomed artists into their home, figuratively and literally.”

“If one child in ten years ends up with a career in the arts because of the Arts Center, then as far as I’m concerned, we’ve done our job,” Joyce has continually said.

Two Cowboy Artists of America residing in Bosque County – Greene and Grelle – benefitted greatly from both Spieler and the Jones. On Saturday, Bruce Greene thanked the Jones’ for believing in him and supporting him when he was busy making a name for himself. And for their continued support and generosity throughout the years; even now, commissioning and donating a life-size bronze of his “Goats in the Garden.”

“The impact Roland and Joyce had on our family and life is immeasurable,” Greene said of the couple’s undying support and generosity.

Greene offered the anecdote on how he started the sculpture back in the 1980s under tutelage of the cigarette-toting, eccentric sculptor Frits White, CA. White ripped the piece apart, proclaiming the pioneer woman didn’t look mad enough to kill the goats wreaking havoc in her garden. After revision, the piece was – thanks to the Jones – ultimately cast in 1993 to be submitted to the Cowboy Artists of America.

Fast forward to 2022, Joyce told Greene she wanted the sculpture for her 90th birthday but, “You have to make it bigger! I want it life-size and in this flowerbed.” Another casting will be installed at the BAC. “We are thrilled that Joyce has arranged for us to receive this piece,” Cornett said.

Besides the recognition of being selected in the Art Classic, award winners stood to receive significant cash prizes. Thanks to generous local sponsors and art patrons, in total, more than $15,000 was awarded in cash prizes. Some artists traveled from afar to be present at the awards dinner.

Maryland’s Lee Alban was on hand to receive the prestigious John Steven Jones Purchase Award of $5,000 from Sharp for his oil “How the West Was Won.” It was one of his four submitted and selected pieces, storying pioneers in the early West.

“Winning this award means a lot to me,” Alban said. “It is a really big opportunity to get some attention and name recognition.” His paintings tell stories, stories about women, about vintage America and the Western lifestyle, stories about the land, cowboys and Native Americans. His award-winning piece “How the West Was Won” marries the nostalgia of the pioneer West and the women’s role in everyday life.

Joyce Jones chose this piece particularly because it portrays a woman and her husband in their humble pioneer’s log cabin, subtlety acknowledging the important role women played in the development of the West. The piece will hang in the permanent collection of the second-floor BAC Jones Gallery.

“It took the women behind the men to make it happen,” Sharp said on how the West was won. Alban began drawing as a child and learned basic art techniques from television programs and library books. Throughout his school years his interest intensified and, though encouraged by teachers, chose not to pursue an art career. He followed his love of biology and became a secondary school teacher – a career that would give him financial stability to care for his family.

Upon retirement at 52, Alban decided to pursue his love of art, entering the Schuler School of Fine Arts in Baltimore, MD. Since then his professional career earned him top awards, including last year’s Bosque Art Classic New Entrant Award. Proficient in many styles of painting, Alban fell in love with realism, but developed an affinity for the West in recent years. His distinct, crisp, luminescent style of painting makes his oil on canvas work seem like they’re translucent, as if painted on glass.

In the exhibit brochure, the Art Council also offered a special recognition for Mary Ellen Boren, widow of the former CAA legend James Boren, acknowledging her recent 100th birthday. Since 2013, Mary Ellen and her family are sponsors of the special Boren-Selvidge Award in honor of her husband and her brother James Selvidge. Joyce and Roland Jones credit James and Mary Ellen Boren for igniting their love of Western art, and inspiring many young artists, including Martin Grelle.

This year, Nancy Boren Solohubow, Mary Ellen’s artist daughter, selected Lon Brauer’s rendition of a native American “Baggataway” to receive the $1,000 award. Baggataway or “Creator’s Game” is the Iroquois game similar to Lacrosse.

Besides the eye-catching lemon yellow background, the contrasting blue loincloth, the rough red outline of the figure, translated into a striking and strong image for Boren.

“It really talks to me,” Boren said. “It has great use of color, and I always love the human figure. The very simple lines were used very effectively to give the face structure, make it very sculptural. And a yellow background like this is very rare. It’s a bold choice and I respect that.”

The $1,000 and purchase price Art Patrons Purchase Award went to Eileen Nistler’s for her black, tan, brown and orange colored pencil drawing of three onions on a rough wood shelf entitled “End of the Season," which also becomes a piece of the permanent collection at BAC. It also won the gold medal in its category.

“The Art Council felt like the subject matter was unique and that her attention to detail was outstanding,” Cornett said. “We loved the way the light fell on the center onion. We admire her work and wanted to add a piece to our permanent collection.”

The silver medal in drawing went to “Muley Bucks” by Amber Scally. Court Bailey won the gold medal in water media for the portrait of “The Potter,” and Rickie Vios won silver for his pipe-smoking cowboy in a dimly lit room “Cowboy Zen.” Gold medal in pastels went to Lynda Conley for her delicate mauve and tan “November Dawn,” and the silver medal went to Lin Boucher for the contemporary urban cowboy “Reminiscing” in a tan leather wing back chair.

Artist John Rule from Oklahoma was present to receive his gold medal award for his bronze of a hawk bearing down on a covey of quail named “Wing and a Preyer.” The silver medal for sculpture – oil on Tupelo wood – went to Valley Mills resident Richard Finch’s “Great Horned Owl.”

For exhibit organizers, having quality artwork for viewers is key; for artists being in a prestigious exhibit increases name recognition and ultimately helps in sales. This year saw the addition of an Artist Choice Award thanks to Art of the West Magazine. The award includes a full-page ad in the magazine to show off their work.

The first ever Artist Choice Award presented by the publication’s Lisa Staudohar went to the Gold Medal winner in oil/acrylic, David Yorke’s “Rodeo Dreams.” The Art Classic proved a success for this newcomer to the exhibit, as he also won the New Entrant Award with his oil on linen “Passing on Traditions.” Valerij Kagounkin received the silver medal in oil/acrylic for his work “In Grandpa’s Footsteps,” of a young cowgirl and her grandfather walking out to the horse’s paddock, ready for a long day in the saddle.

The gallery of the BAC Art Classic’s 179 selected pieces can also be viewed online at https://www.bosqueartscenter.org/Gallery.aspx. Purchase awarded art becomes a part of the Bosque Arts Center's Permanent Collection. This collection is displayed throughout the year for the public to enjoy for free.

With 28 pieces sold on opening night, the Art Classic Exhibit and Sale can be deemed very successful. Online sales continue from Sept. 16-28. Viewing the pieces in person can be done during BAC opening hours: Sunday, Sept. 15 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., weekdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m.