Veryl Goodnight
Encyclopedia
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Her realistic sculptures of horses have achieved international acclaim. Her art as sculptress and paintress is dedicated to the American West, the pioneer
Pioneer
A pioneer is a soldier employed to perform engineering tasks. The term is in principle similar to sapper.Pioneers were originally part of the Artillery branch of European armies. Their primary job was to assist other Arms in tasks such as construction of field fortifications or military camps...
ideal and the animals shown as friends.
Early life
Veryl was born in Ashland, OhioAshland, Ohio
Ashland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Ashland County. The population was 21,249 at the 2000 census. It is the center of the Ashland Micropolitan Statistical Area...
, on January 26, 1947, but her family moved to Lakewood, Colorado
Lakewood, Colorado
Lakewood is a Home Rule Municipality that is the most populous city in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Lakewood is the fifth most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 172nd most populous city in the United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that in April 1, 2010...
when she was only a few weeks old. As a young child living in the West, she fell in love with horses. Her parents could not afford to buy her one of her own, but Veryl continued to think and dream about horses. When she was very little she would sculpt horses out of snow. She received from her parents her first set of professional paints when she was in third grade, and soon her home was filled with equine drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
s and painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s.
Education
In 1965, Veryl had the opportunity for a scholarship to study art at the University of Colorado at BoulderUniversity of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, but declined because she did not wish to study abstract art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
, which was the predominant form being taught at that time. She attended business school in Denver instead. During her 20s she held a steady job as a secretary while she continued to study art in her spare time. Her mentors included artists James Disney
James Disney
James Joseph Disney was an English cricketer who played first class cricket for Derbyshire as wicket-keeper between 1881 and 1890....
, Ned Jacob, Ken Bunn, and Jon Zahourek. She learned painting, bronze sculpture, and horse anatomy and began making and selling sculptures for a living.
The Day the Wall Came Down
There are two copies of the sculpture. The first, finished in 1997, is located at the George Bush Presidential Library
George Bush Presidential Library
The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library of George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States. It was dedicated on Nov. 6, 1997 and opened to the public shortly thereafter...
in College Station, Texas.
The second, finished in 1998, was given as a gift from the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and is located at Clayallee near the Allied Museum
Allied Museum
The Allied Museum is a museum in Berlin. It documents the political history and the military commitments and roles of the Western Allies in Germany – particularly Berlin – between 1945 and 1994 and their contribution to liberty in Berlin.-Location: American Sector:The museum is located on the...
in the former American sector of Berlin. Each sculpture weighs approximately seven tons and measures 30 feet long by 18 feet wide by 12 feet high.
Exposition in museums and open air
Goodnights work is presented in many public collections, e. g.- The Wildlife ExperienceThe Wildlife ExperienceThe Wildlife Experience is a wildlife conservation museum featuring natural history, fine art and film located in Parker, Colorado, about south of Denver. The museum houses an extensive collection of natural history exhibits, paintings and sculpture, photography and large-format films...
in ParkerParkerParker may refer to people with first name Parker or the surname Parker.-Place names in the United States:*Parker, Arizona*Parker, Colorado*Parker, Florida*Parker, Idaho*Parker, Kansas*Parker, Pennsylvania*Parker, South Carolina*Parker, South Dakota...
, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains... - J. Wayne Stark GalleriesJ. Wayne Stark GalleriesThe J. Wayne Stark Galleries is an art museum on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. It is run by the University Art Galleries Department, which is a part of the Division of Student Affairs. The art gallery is named after J. Wayne Stark, the first director of the Memorial...
- Great Plains Art Museum
Other monuments created by Veryl "are on display at The Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum in Oklahoma City; the Houston Astrodome; Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina; Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Miyama Building, Tokyo, Japan; Lely Resort in Naples, Florida; and The Old West Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming."
Exhibits and Professional Organizations
- Elected Member of National Sculpture SocietyNational Sculpture SocietyFounded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members included several renowned architects. The founding...
- Member of the American Academy of Equine Art, Inc
- Participating artist of Masters of the American West
- Invited Artist of the Northwest Rendezvous Group
- Signature member of The Society of Animal Artists