About the Friends of Western Art
Incorporated in 1981 as an Arizona 501(C)3 nonprofit organization, FWA is dedicated to supporting awareness of and promoting Western Art in Tucson and Southern Arizona.
In 1995, The Friends of Western Art committed $70,000 to the cost of renovating the Fish House at the Tucson Museum of Art. This gallery houses art of the West and is known as the John K. Goodman Pavilion of Western Art. The FWA has underwritten many exhibitions there such as: the "Tucson Seven" exhibit; the "Ross Stefan" retrospective; "Covering the West: the Best of Southwest Art magazine"; "Women Artists and the West" show and sale; and recently; "Thirty Years: a Western Artists of the Year Retrospective."
The Friends of Western Art continues to raise funds for education and various projects through such means as the annual Artist of the Year Dinner, the sale of signed lithographs, and the creation of a video, "The Tucson Seven", which is sold in many locations including the Tucson Museum of Art and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
The Friends of Western Art is one of the sponsors of the annual Children's Writing and Art Competition, open to all Pima County fourth graders, and the 8th Congressional District Art Competition for high school students. It offers scholarships and grants to deserving art students and has contributed to two major public sculptures: "Soldado de Cuero" by Buck McCain for El Presidio Park and "Chief Trumpeter" by Dan Bates for Fort Lowell Park.
In October of 2003, the FWA presented a bronze sculpture, "Visions of Change" by John Coleman, CAA, to the Tucson Museum of Art. In 2005, FWA contributed to the Wyatt Earp & "Doc" Holliday bronze statue at the newly restored Tucson Rail Depot.
Mission Statement
The Friends of Western Art was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1981.
Its mission is to promote the awareness of art of the American West in Tucson and Southern Arizona through underwriting and educational programs.