Joe Neil Beeler was a painter and sculptor of Western Americana. His father was part Cherokee and Joe Beeler participated with other Native American boys in war dances. He studied art at Tulsa University which was interrupted by the Korean War, after which he completed his studies at Tulsa University and continued at the Art Center School in Los Angeles. His first solo exhibition was at the Gilcrease Museum in 1960. He helped to found the Cowboy Artists of America group in 1965.
A close friend of the late Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona. Beeler was commissioned by the town of Paradise Valley in 2003 to create a 10-foot sculpture of the US Senator. The bronze serves as the focus of a memorial park that commemorates Arizona's favorite son.
Early this week Joe Beeler died in his saddle of an apparent heart attack. Having spent some quality time with this artist recently, I was struck by his utterly genuine and at the same time impressive sense of humility. No pretense was offered. Joe appreciated his life and his career, as well as his family.
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