Founder
Megan Wimberley
Megan Wimberley is a contemporary western and wildlife artist based out of Tulsa, Ok. She holds a BA in Fine Arts and an MA in Art Education. Megan's personal work is focused on our connectedness with animals and the natural word. Her art teaching pedagogy focuses on growing self-awareness, problem solving skills, perseverance, and skill development.
Megan started Cowgirl Artist of America in 2021 with the goal of helping bridge the gap of representation of women artists in the western art world. Megan's teaching background and art business experience inform her approach to helping others on their art career journey.
www.meganwimberley.com
Advisory Board
Jackie Sevier
As an enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, Sevier is proud of her Native American heritage. Legends and traditions of her native Wind River Reservation in Wyoming are often subjects for her unique works of art.
Sevier's works can be found in private, corporate, and university collections throughout the world. Awards include honors at the Santa Fe Indian Market, Santa Fe, NM; Heard Fair, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ and more. Sevier's works have been included in "Grounded", Restoring our world through a Sacred Harmony with the Earth and Each Other; “Let the Spirit Speak”, Pope VI Institute of the Arts, Washington,DC: “Our Way Continues”, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, The Sioux Indian Museum, Rapid City, SD, Museum of Anthropology, Lawrence, KS; “Influences of our Grandparents”, Oscar Howe Museum, Mitchell, SD; and “Heart Dreams and Legends”, a joint indigenous exhibit that toured the US and Australia. Her works were also included at the Brinton Memorial Museum, Sheridan, WY: “The Cowboy, Rodeo & WYO Rodeo”, “West of the Mississippi”, “Ladies’ Choice”,
Peggy Judy
Peggy was born and raised in Colorado, and attended Colorado State University receiving a BFA in Illustration. Her illustration background informs her graphic approach to composition and design. Peggy's work takes a unique perspective and expressive interpretation on a traditional and well-honored subject matter. Her work emphasizes the intensity of the west as it was lived in the past and is still lived today.
She is currently
represented by top art galleries with an emphasis on contemporary western art around the country. And her work can be found in collections across the USA, UK, and Europe, as well as Major Western ArtShows and Museums around the Western United States. Our advisory board will be enhanced by the experience Peggy's brings as a highly successful artist, and her enthusiasm for the representation of female artists
https://www.peggyjudyfineart.com
Morgan R. Buckert
Morgan Buckert creates hand-crafted cowboy boots, shoes, and leather goods in her Hailey, Idaho shop. Her upbringing on a South Texas ranch continues to influence her today and
inspires the traditional Western element to her work. Morgan chooses to work with leather because of the longevity of the product and the versatility of the material. She builds cowboy boots and leather goods, employing traditional techniques such as welting and hand stitching to control the medium through her hands. This means each piece is unique, made with both love and sweat, and made to last a lifetime.
Morgan holds B.A.s in History and Government from The University of Texas at Austin and a M.A. in U.S. Western History from The University of New Mexico.
https://morganbuckert.com
Marlie McDonald
Marlie was born and raised in Oklahoma City, where she studied classical ballet and modern dance at a visual and performing arts school through High School. She went on to receive a BS in Family Life Education from the University of Central Oklahoma. After receiving her degree, Marlie worked in the non-profit sector helping with administrative and organizational management and fundraising for 5 years. Marlie currently resides in Brooklyn and manages an office at a private equity firm in New York City. She is a passionate supporter of female artists, both in her private art collection and word of mouth/social media promotion. In her free time she loves to travel the world, try new physical and artistic activities, and spend time with her pets. Malie's non-profit and managerial experiences are a great assets to CGA.
Lisa Sorrell
Lisa Sorrell is an award-winning artist working in the medium of leather. She builds cowboy boots in her shop in Guthrie, working from flat pieces of leather and the client’s measurements, and using hand tools and vintage machinery. She maintains a portfolio of original designs and is well-known in the boot-making world for her design skills. She speaks, teaches, and writes; her book “The Art of Leather Inlay and Overlay” is a textbook on the topic of creating art with leather. Lisa enjoys speaking about cowboy boots and cowboy boot making, and she also teaches and writes on the topic of cowboy boots, footwear, and creating art with leather. Although she’s always told her students that conveying light and movement with leather inlay, overlay, and stitching ranges from difficult to impossible, she’s recently been exploring light, shadow, and reflection.
www.sorrell.design
Operation Board
Raven Skye
Raven Skye is a Contemporary Western Artist who has always felt compelled to make work that offers the viewer an invitation to slow down & truly take in the details of places and things that go unnoticed as we rush past them in our fast-paced daily lives. Her paintings often depict rural, rustic scenes, abandoned places & epic landscapes from her road-trip travels both near and far. Steeped in nostalgia & reminiscence, Raven's work inspires you to pause, reflect, recall and remember what is important to you and why, so that life doesn't simply pass you by.
Raven's work has been extensively shown & purchased throughout many states & provinces in the US, Canada and the UK. She has been honored to be invited to speak/instruct at many art workshops & various conferences throughout the US and Canada, and has also served on the Advisory Board of an International Multi-Million dollar Art company.
In addition to being a founding member of Cowgirl Artists of America, Raven has also been honored to receive CGA's Member of the Year award.
Paige Weber
Paige Weber is a painter whose work focuses on wildlife. Her love of nature was cultivated in her early childhood while living in the Idaho panhandle. Her oil paintings focus on the narrative found in the wild in the eyes of living creatures; the silent stories exchanged in nature often unseen. Bringing the menagerie into focus allows her to examine our role in protecting the delicate balance of our natural world. Weber completed a BFA in Graphic Design from Boise State University in 2008 and an MA in Illustration from Academy of Art University in 2018. She currently resides in Pocatello, Idaho.
www.paigeweber.net
Samantha Ward
Samantha Ward was born and raised in New Mexico, Samantha has a life-long love of horses and southwest landscapes. Working from her own photography, Samantha transforms water and paint into sunlit landscapes and shiny horses. She currently resides in Ohio with her husband.
www.samdeeward.com
Molly Mellinger
Molly Mellinger is an emerging artist who is best known for her equine and western artwork. She has been a life-long creative and among her personal circles has always been ‘the artist’ of the group. The two constants in her life have been a love of horses and an affinity for visual art; in particular drawing, photography, and most recently oil painting. Her intimate familiarity with her subjects and a thirst for continued learning can be felt in her pieces. As an artist, Molly is largely self-taught, but she has a uniquely strong foundation in drawing that has been instrumental in her exploration into oil painting. She continues to develop a distinct style that uses dynamic color and expressive brushwork to capture the ‘essence’ of her subjects while her pencil work is often centered around capturing the intimate narratives. She is invigorated by the endless opportunities for growth and experimentation that art naturally inclines itself towards.
www.artbymellinger.com