I spent most of this past Saturday afternoon at the Western Masters Art Show and Sale at the BW Heritage Inn in Great Falls. As they began a new tradition with this show, it was clear to me that the odds of them becoming a great anchor show during Western Art Week are great.
There were 110 rooms of all genres of art including over 155 juried artists. The show ran for four days. I was very impressed with a brochure they had available as I walked in to the hotel lobby. You could locate artists by theme (landscapes, still life, cattle, birds etc.) or you could look at a map of the rooms with photos of each participating artist. I had several artists whose rooms I wanted to see first, then I planned to fill in with a general walkabout.
A Quick Finish event began at 4:30 in the pool area with 12 artists participating. An auction of the Quick Finish and 58 pieces from other artists began at 7pm. All rooms of art were open to the public at no charge and there was no charge to attend the Quick Finish or auction.
Several things really impressed me about this show. First of all, the quality of artists was amazing. Probably as important, the show seemed very well organized. I also was pleased that the general public could come, appreciate art, possibly buy art, and have an outing in to the art world for no charge.
The venue at the BW Heritage Inn seemed to be a perfect fit for this show and I hope it is back next year, stronger than ever. And, the end of my afternoon with The Masters – I didn’t buy anything because I ended up watching the animated Quick Finish artists and then started visiting! It was a good time!