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Four seminars will be held as part of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association Exhibition & Sale weekend. The first will be Foundations and Traditions, with TCAA members Scott Hardy, Ernie Marsh, Don Reeves, and Cary Schwarz.Seminars and refreshments are open to public with Museum admission. Seminar luncheons are open to TCAA weekend package holders.
Speaker Bios
Scott Hardy, Longview, Alberta, Canada
A fifth-generation stockman and Western silversmith for 43 years, Scott Hardy is a founding member of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association who adamantly believes in the TCAA mission to preserve, promote and perpetuate the North American cowboy culture. Raised with the mantra “actions mean more than words,” over the past 25 years Hardy has created 112 personal projects while contributing silver for 61 saddles (25 of those with fellow TCAA member Cary Schwarz) and collaborated on 125 other projects for the annual Traditional Cowboy Arts Association Exhibition & Sale. All of this in addition to completing countless private commissions. Involved in multiple TCAA workshops, Hardy served as a TCAA officer from 2006 – 2013, the Strategic Planning Committee chair from 2013 – 2016 and again as a TCAA officer from 2016 – 2024. Hardy says, “From our first meeting in 1998 to the one we just completed in 2024, although many faces may have changed, the TCAA has remained resolute in its mission. I am extremely thankful to be a part of it!”
Ernie Marsh, Lovell, Wyoming
Ernie Marsh has been a professional bit and spur maker for over 30 years. His hardworking background includes ranching, rodeoing and timber felling. He pursued his passion of building bridle bits and spurs with the same serious attitude and desire to learn the skills required. Marsh considers himself fortunate to have had opportunities to gain insight from horsemen and engravers — noted masters of the trade. With his wife, Teresa, Marsh currently resides near Lovell, Wyoming. As a TCAA founding member and a 2016 United States Artists Katie Weitz Fellowship recipient in Traditional Arts, Marsh has influenced the work of many contemporary bit and spur makers.
Don Reeves, Williamsburg, Virginia
As a young boy from Iowa, Don Reeves’ life changed when he experienced Cimarron, New Mexico, and fell in love with the American West. After studying at the University of Oklahoma (OU), where he received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology with an emphasis in museum studies, Reeves worked several years at the OU Natural History Museum and the Oklahoma Historical Society. In 1979 he was asked to join the staff of the then National Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center, where he remained on the curatorial staff for 38 years and became the McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture. Instrumental in the formation of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association (TCAA) and author of numerous publications and magazine articles on the American West, Reeves has participated in a host of television and documentary film projects. Recipient of the 2024 Chester A. Reynolds Award from the National Cowboy Museum, Reeves is the honorary curator of the 25th anniversary Traditional Cowboy Arts Association Exhibition & Sale. He lives with his wife, Val, in Williamsburg, Virginia, near his two sons, their wives and grandchildren.
Cary Schwarz, Salmon, Idaho
January 2025 will mark 27 years since Cary Schwarz had the first conversation with Mike Beaver about a concept that would become the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association. As the TCAA celebrates its 25th anniversary exhibition, Schwarz remarked that there has been a lot of water under the bridge with so many great things that have happened within the world of cowboy craftsmanship and artistry. All this despite a steady headwind from inside and outside the cowboy world. The work that he offers for this show is the best work he has assembled to date, and he looks forward to more years ahead for personal and creative growth
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
1700 NE 63rd St, Oklahoma City, OK, United States, Oklahoma 73111
Tickets
