The Phippen Museum

The Phippin Western Art Museum

The Phippen Art Museum, located in Prescott, Arizona, has brought

 quality western artwork to the Southwest region since 1984.

 Located at 4701 Highway 89N in Prescott, the museum is

 featuring a new show titled

 Arizona’s Pioneering Women: Early Women Artists (1905-1945).

 The new show temporarily coincides with the existing

 Arizona Visions show that closes on March 11. Arizona’s 

Pioneering Women showcases the work of five women: Kate Cory,

 Marjorie Thomas, Lillian Wilhelm Smith, Jessie Benton Evans,

 and Claire Dooner-Phillips. The show, which runs through the 8^th 

 of July, is an official designation of the Arizona Centennial

 Legacy Project and highlights an historical and artistic legacy of

 women in the state of Arizona.

Looking west from the  Phippen Museum

Aside from the fine paintings, etchings, illustrations, book
 productions and porcelain design on display, each of the featured
 women contributed heartily to the history of the state and region,
 and many of these contributions gave rise to traditions still
 functioning today. Featured artist Marjorie Thomas opened the
 first artist studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, effectively marking the
 beginnings of the area’s famous art market. Clair Dooner-Phillips
  was a founding member of both the world renowned Laguna
Beach Arts Association in California, and the Mountain Artist
 Guild in Prescott, AZ. Lillian Wilhelm Smith was the first
 illustrator for the western author Zane Grey, and the only female
 to ever fill the position. She was also artist in residence at the
Arizona Biltmore Hotel, and was co-owner of a trading Post at
 Tuba City and a dude ranch in Sedona. Jesse Benton Evans
 owned the land that now houses the Biltmore and Phoenician
 resorts and she became the first senior art matron of the Phoenix
 art establishment. She was also responsible for insuring the
 superior quality of art in the Arizona State Fair during the early
 formative years of the state. Kate Cory came to Arizona in 1905
 and was the only woman to live and photograph the Hopi people
 at their Northern Arizona reservation.

The show is resplendent with lush, atmospheric landscapes depicting
 the vast and various regions of the state, as well as floral studies,
 animals and sensitively rendered native portraits. It provides a varied
cornucopia of Arizona life, its landscapes and livelihoods, during a
time period in the state that has now slipped into the historic annuals.