Central Oregon artist wins prestigious award

Artist Tom Browning has won the 2009 Prix de West Purchase Award at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum.

An oil painting of a young pioneer woman peeking out the window of a rustic cabin to watch the sunrise earned Browning the prestigious award. "The Dawn of a New Day" will be bought by the museum to be part of its permanent collection. The painting was priced at $18,500. Browning also received a $5,000 cash prize and the Prix de West medallion.

The award was presented to Browning at the Saturday luncheon at the museum's 36th annual Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition and Sale in Oklahoma City.

"We were really thrilled - unexpectedly," Browning told The Nugget. "It's the biggest show of its kind in the country. Everybody does their best work and any awards are an extra bonus. It's an honor just to be in the show."

Browning lived in Sisters for a decade before moving to Bend.

He retains significant ties to the Sisters community, showing his work at Clearwater Gallery and regularly donating work for the My Own Two Hands art auction in support of art and music programs in Sisters schools.

Browning - famous for depictions of Santa Claus - was an art major at the University of Oregon and became a full-time professional artist in 1973. He moved to Central Oregon in 1995.

This was the fourth year he has participated in the Prix de West show.

This year's Prix de West show and sale featured 340 artworks by 108 of the nation's leading Western painters and sculptors.

Total sales for this opening-day art sale totaled $2.9 million, with prices ranging from $695 to $125,000.

For more information visit http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/announcements/announcement.aspx?ID=145.