Joe Beeler

Sedona, Arizona

Joe Beeler is acknowledged as a pioneer in the field of Western art. He was formally trained at Tulsa University and the Art Center School of Design in California. As a youth, he spent much time at the studio of Charles Banks Wilson studying his techniques. He began his professional career as an illustrator for the University of Oklahoma Press. His work is a blend of historic and contemporary subject matter. He has had one-man shows in every major western museum in the United States and is represented in numerous collections including Woolaroc and Gilcrease Museums in Oklahoma, and the Cody Museum in Wyoming.

Joe Beeler's art has been exhibited in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Charles M. Russell Museum, the Heard Museum, and the Institute of Texas Cultures, among others. In 1965, Joe Beeler helped found the Cowboy Artists of America, the organization credited with inspiring the popularity of western art today. The Town of Sedona has honored him by erecting a sculpture of Joe Beeler in the middle of downtown. A native of Joplin, Missouri, Joe has "a hefty dose" of Cherokee blood.