Tough by Nature: Portraits of Cowgirls and Ranch Women of the American West Opens, 5/9

Tough by Nature: Portraits of Cowgirls and Ranch Women of the American West opens Thursday, May 9, and runs through Monday, Sept. 9, 2013, at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, 1720 Gendy Street in the Cultural District. The exhibition of 65 of Lynda Lanker's drawings, paintings, works on paper, and prints documents a vanishing way of life that affirms the role of women in the economy and ecology of the American West.

Lynda Lanker of Eugene, Ore., traveled for 19 years through 13 western states sketching, painting, interviewing, and photographing "matriarchs of the West," women who play the essential roles of hardworking ranchers, mothers, cowgirls, wives, and homemakers. She is committed to preserve their pioneering spirit, heritage, and stories before more of their ranches are overtaken by urban and corporate development. Influenced by Andrew Wyeth and Thomas Hart Benton, she used a variety of media - pencil and charcoal, oil pastel, egg tempura, plate and stone lithography, engraving, and dry point - to capture the spirit of these women.

"I didn't go out there to prove that their lives were so different from those of the women I knew or the cowboys we thought we knew; I started to discover that they were," Lanker said. "There were at least as many of the female cowhands and ranchers who were doing the same work as the men but they had mainly been portrayed as rodeo queens in tight satin shirts with lots of sequins and fancy boots. I wanted to go deeper and show the true women instead of the stereotype. I hope people come away from the exhibition feeling the ruggedness, the beauty, and the cultural tradition of this life, for this ranch life, long romanticized, is harsh and makes one tough by nature. What these women and their families are doing is admirable. They have made an indelible imprint on the American landscape."

"These inspiring portraits of these extraordinary women reveal their strong sense of self-reliance and confidence," said Pat Riley, executive director of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. "They personify our mission to honor the women whose lives exemplify the courage, resilience, and independence that helped shape the American West."

Eight of the women featured in the exhibition are Cowgirl Hall of Fame Honorees: Reba Perry Blakely (1908-2002), 1979 Honoree, Alturas, Calif.; Linda Mitchell Davis, 1995 Honoree, Ruby Gobble, 1982 Honoree, and Gretchen Sammis (1925-2012), 1986 Honoree, all from Cimarron, N.M.; Jonnie Jonckowski, 1991 Honoree, Billings, Mont.; Georgie Sicking, 1989 Honoree, Fallon, Nev.; Mollie Taylor Stevenson, Jr., 2001 Honoree, Houston, Texas; and Jan Youren, 1993 Honoree, Bruneau, Idaho.

Nine of the 49 women featured in the exhibition are from Texas, and the others are from Ariz., Calif., Colo., Hawaii, Mont., Nev., N.M., Ore., Utah, Wash., and Wyo.

The coffee table book of the same name, which accompanies the exhibition, tells these remarkable women's stories in their own words. Novelist, essayist, and screenwriter Larry McMurtry wrote the foreword; Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a 2002 Honoree in the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, wrote the introduction; and poet Maya Angelou wrote the afterword. The Ford Family Foundation and other donors made the book possible.

The exhibition was organized by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon, where it premiered in the fall 2012. Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, is coordinating the tour of the exhibition.

Sponsors of the exhibition at the Cowgirl museum are Fifth Avenue Foundation; Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities; National Barrel Horse Association; National Cutting Horse Association; and Reata restaurant.

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame(800-476-3263) is the only museum in the world dedicated to honoring and celebrating women, whose lives exemplify the courage, resilience, and independence that helped shape the American West. It is considered an invaluable resource for its exhibits, research library, rare photograph collection, and distance-learning programs.

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