About Mikel Donahue
Mikel Donahue, b. 1956, Tulsa, OK (United States)
Biography
A multiple award winning member of the Cowboy Artists of America, artist Mikel Donahue is best known for his impeccable depictions of cowboy life. His drawings and paintings portray ranchers and their livestock during the day-to-day ritual of sun-up to sun-down work on the ranch. What may seem as mundane chores are captured and translated through his artistic style into moments of meaning and reflection.
Donahue, who was born and raised in Tulsa, was taught about life on the ranch by his paternal grandfather who raised cattle in northcentral Oklahoma. It was Donahue’s maternal grandfather who exposed him to western art at an early age with memorable trips to Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum and what was then the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Fascinated both by life on the ranch and the iconic art by the likes of Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington, as an adult, Donahue has become a perfect amalgam of his influences with a life breeding racing quarter horses with his wife Christie on their place outside Broken Arrow and an award-winning career in the arts.
Selected Exhibitions
• Cowboy Artists of America Annual Exhibition & Sale, Ft.Worth, TX
• Cowboy Artists of America Annual Miniature Exhibition & Sale, Museum of the West, Scottsdale, AZ
• Briscoe Western Art Museum, Night of Artists, San Antonio, TX
• Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Quest for the West Art Show, Indianapolis, IN
• National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Prix De West Invitational, Oklahoma City, OK
• National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Small Works-Great Wonders Exhibition & Sale, Oklahoma City, OK
• Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Buffalo Bill Art Show, Cody, WY
• Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK
• C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, MT
• Phippen Museum, Miniature Masterpiece Show, Prescott
• The Society of Animal Artists Annual Exhibition & Sale
• Oklahoma Capitol Building, Governor’s Gallery – One Man Exhibition, Oklahoma City, OK
Notable Awards
• Cowboy Artists of America (CAA) 2024: Gold Medal – R Watson Boots True West Award, Silver Medal – Mixed Media
• CAA 2023: Gold Medal – Mixed Media, Silver Medal – Mixed Media
• CAA 2022: Ray Swanson Memorial Award, Gold Medal – Mixed Media, Silver Medal – Water Solubles
• CAA 2021: Anne Marion Best of Show, Gold Medal – Water Solubles, Gold Medal – Mixed Media
• CAA 2019: Gold Medal – Drawing, Gold Medal – Mixed Media, Silver Medal – Water Solubles
• AA 2018: Silver Medal – Other Media
• AA 2017: Silver Medal – Water Solubles
• Inducted as a Member of the Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame – 2017
• Academy of Western Artists: Will Rogers Award – Artist of the Year – 2011
• Buffalo Bill Historical Center 2010: Premier Platinum Award and William E. Weiss Purchase Award
• Buffalo Bill Historical Center 2009: Artists’ Choice Award
Affiliations
• Cowboy Artists of America, Member since 2016
Galleries
• Broadmoor Galleries, Colorado Springs, CO
• Insight Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX
• Santa Fe Trails Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
• Settlers West Galleries, Tucson, AZ