Monday, May 7, 2007

Gollings exhibit at UW Art Museum


Paintings by Bill Gollings, one of Wyoming's most celebrated cowboy artists, will be displayed May 5-Sept. 1 at the University of Wyoming Art Museum.

"Bill Gollings: Cowboy Artist, Paintings from the Sherry Nicholas Collection," was originally assembled by Dr. William T. Ward and includes 71 paintings, drawings and sketches. Born in Fort Pierce, Idaho, Gollings spent his childhood in Michigan and completed his eighth-grade education in Chicago. In 1896, he returned to the West where he worked odd jobs--branding cattle, driving a stagecoach, trapping for fur, and hunting for gold--to pay for his room and board.

Gollings was fascinated by the Frederic Remington drawings he saw in Harpers Weekly. Encouraged by his brother, he pursued his own art and studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Gollings established his Sheridan studio in 1909, and devoted his life to depicting early 20th century life in the American West.

This exhibition is funded in part by the National Advisory Board of the UW Art Museum. The UW Art Museum is located in the Centennial Complex at 22nd and Willett Drive in Laramie. The museum is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The Museum Store is closed until further notice for renovation. For more information, call the Art Museum at (307) 766-6622 or visit www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum.