Mancos painter and sculptor Veryl Goodnight will be inducted to the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame on Oct. 27.
Goodnight joins a distinguished group of about 220 cowgirls from all over the American west that includes former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Located in Fort Worth, Texas, The Hall of Fame inducts four or five women each year, who are selected through a rigorous process, according to a press release. Goodnight will be honored during an induction luncheon at the museum on October 27.
Goodnight told The Journal in June she is grateful to the people of southwest Colorado for supporting her throughout the years.
“People around here are wonderful and supportive of my work,” she said.
Since July 22, Goodnight’s painting and sculpting has been featured at the museum in a retrospective titled “No Turning Back.” The retrospective covers Goodnight’s 45-year career and will feature 17 sculptures and 11 paintings, focusing on western women, horses and wildlife.
“Since it’s a retrospective, it covers my whole career,” Goodnight said.
The title of the retrospective comes from a 2011 book on Goodnight’s work that was named after one of her sculptures of a pioneer woman looking back over a wagon wheel toward a trail. Several of the pieces feature similar subjects and will be paired together, and some will be accompanied by poetry, she said.
Other 2016 Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees include Marilyn Williams Harris, an Arizona rancher and environmentalist; Frances Rosenthal Kallison, a Texas rancher who died in 2004 and worked to document Jewish history in the Lone Star State; and Pat North Ommert, a skilled trick rider from California.
“These four remarkable women join a legendary group of existing honorees at the Museum,” said Hall of Fame Executive Director Patricia Riley in a news release.
