Denver, CO – The 31st Annual Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale announces that the first curator of the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale, Ann Daley, will be the 2024 Mary Belle Grant Award recipient. Ann is the first to be given this honor posthumously and the award will be accepted at the Blue Jean Preview on January 2nd, 2024 by her loving family.
Ann Scarlett Daley was born in Havre, Montana, near the Canadian border. Her parents, Fred and Clara Scarlett, owned a ranch in Saskatchewan. When Ann was two, her parents moved to Fort Benton, Montana, where Ann attended grade school. In 1948, the family moved to Rawlins, Wyoming, where her parents owned the Gambles hardware store.
Ann graduated from Rawlins High School as valedictorian and student body president, the first female to hold that office in 27 years. After earning her undergraduate degree in Wyoming, Ann moved to Colorado. She began volunteering with the Denver Art Museum in 1971 and worked as curator of American art there from 1977 to 1980. Ann received her MA in art history at the University of Denver and became curator of the Foxley Collection of Western Art.
In 1985, she accepted the position of curator for Frederick and Jan Mayer.Ann returned to the Denver Art Museum in 1997 as adjunct curator of American art, after serving as the first curator of the Coors Western Art Exhibit in 1995. She remained an integral part of National Western, serving on the Coors Western Art Committee until she passed in early 2023.
About Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale
The Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale has become known as one of the nation’s most attended western art exhibitions, as well as one of largest fundraisers for the National Western Scholarship Trust, the philanthropic pillar of Colorado’s National Western Stock Show. The 2024 Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale opens Wednesday evening, January 3, 2024, with the Red Carpet Gala Reception. The exhibit features 73 contemporary realists from across North America who capture the western way of life. The exhibition is open to the public during the National Western Stock Show, January 6-21, 2024. Last year over 700 people attended the Red Carpet Gala Reception on opening night, and over 30,000 viewed the exhibit during the National Western Stock Show.
The National Western Scholarship Trust was formed in 1983 to provide scholarships to students studying agriculture, rural medicine, and veterinary sciences. Since then, the Trust has grown to award 120 scholarships annually, ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 per student.
2024 COORS WESTERN ART EVENT SCHEDULE:
Wednesday evening, January 3, 2024 – RED CARPET GALA RECEPTION, Annual Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale opening night, 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the National Western Complex, Expo Hall, Third Floor. Tickets on sale now at http://www.coorswesternart.com.
Saturday, January 6 through Sunday, January 21, 2024, Coors Western Art Exhibit Gallery open to the public during the National Western Stock Show. Hours listed on http://www.coorswesternart.com.
For more information or images of artists’ work, please contact show coordinator Grace Weihs coorsart@nationalwestern.com.