Mountain Trails Galleries in the beautiful city of Sedona is known as a destination gallery for traditional Western fine art and for its artists-in-residence program. Three generations of traditional Western sculptors working in an open studio evolved into a fine art gallery exhibiting sculpture and painting by some of the leading artists in Arizona as well as the American West.
The history of Mountain Trails Galleries really began one day when there was no one to work in Ken Payne’s little gallery. So, he brought his sculpture materials and tools to work and started sculpting. Ken Payne, being an avid history buff and master story-teller, immediately drew a crowd of visitors who became involved in the process. People were fascinated as the clay models took shape and came to life. This immediate response to the artist’s work was that missing connection between artist and viewer that makes a work of art complete. That was in the 1980s in Sedona’s Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village, and today Ken Payne’s (1938-2012) open studio concept has been passed on to his son Vic Payne and grandson Dustin Payne who continue to forge lasting relationships between the artists and visitors to Mountain Trails Galleries.
The Payne Family’s story-telling bronze sculptures of the history and the legends of the American West come to life in their explorers, ranchers and cowboys, Native American culture, historic figures, and Western wildlife. In addition to the Payne legacy, the gallery’s family of 40 award-winning fine artists from the West expands the offerings with richness of technique and diversity of traditional subject matter.
Vic Payne has made his own mark in the world of art. He is known for his dramatic monuments that portray soaring eagles, proud Indian warriors charging the battlefield to protect their homeland, and the spirited explorers of the Lewis and Clark expedition, to name a few. Cabela’s proudly displays monumental sculptures by Vic Payne in front of their stores in Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Illinois. Vic was recently the recipient of the Buffalo Bill Art Show Premier Platinum Award for his sculpture “The Gift”. Inspired by a historic photo taken in 113 on the streets of Cody, Wyoming, “The Gift” is based on a meeting with Buffalo Bill Cody, Prince Albert I, and Chief Plenty Coups of the Crow Nation. Vic Payne continues to chronicle the life and era of our nation’s history through his bronze sculptures and monuments that capture the Spirit of the West.
Dustin Payne has been sculpting since he was 8 years old, and sold his first work of art at age 10. Dustin represents the third generation of professional Western sculptors in his family. It comes as no surprise that the trade was a natural path for him. On his mother’s side he is a descendant of Hiram Daugherty and Mary Jane Goodnight, the sister of Texas Cattle King, Charlie Goodnight who together with Oliver Loving brought the first longhorns across the country from Texas, inaugurating the cattle drive era. Brought up around horses and ranching, Dustin enjoyed the drawings and books of Will James and of course was heavily influenced by the historical nature of his father and grandfather’s work. His passion for the Western lifestyle and Western American history fuels his imagination to preserve the past in the action-packed sculpture that he creates.
For more than 20 years, Susan Kliewer has been artist-in-residence at Mountain Trails in Sedona. Collectors, friends, and art enthusiasts visit Mountain Trails just to see her latest work in progress. Eagle Dancer is the eighth in a series of Native dancers that have come to be a hallmark of Kliewer’s work. The Eagle Dancer, which is believed to transport prayers to the Great Spirit, will take its place among Fancy Shawl Dancer, Proud Traditions, Southern Plains Dancer, Navajo Pow Wow Dancer, Hoop Dancer, Cheyenne Grass Dancer, and Healing Dress Dancer. Kliewer is known for her sensitive and authentic portrayal of her subjects, many of which are friends and family.
Throughout the years, additional distinguished artists have joined Mountain Trails Galleries including wildlife sculptors Sandy Scott and Jim Gilmore, contemporary Navajo sculptor Ed Yazzi, and figurative sculptors Michael Trcic and Deon Duncan who honor the history of the Native American culture as well as legendary figures such as James Bowie, John Wayne, Wild Bill Hickok, and Calamity Jane. The gallery is proud to represent painters Marcia Molnar and George Molnar who both merge contemporary with tradition in their life-like portraits and figures of ranching life as well as their landscapes; Betty Carr and Howard Carr are distinguished with awards and memberships for light-filled atmospheres in their impressionistic landscape and still life subjects. Always featured are plein air painters Amery Bohling, Bill Cramer, Cody DeLong, Dave Santillanes, and Joshua Been, as well as Bud Heiss, EJ Paprocki, Shanna Kunz, Simon Winegar, and Jordyn Payne; Western equine and ranching painters Sarah Phippen, Suzanne Baker, Bonnie Conrad, and Brigitte Woosley; Native American history painters Steven Lang, Dan Deuter, Bill Mittag, and Gene Speck; historic still life and figurative painters Vicki Catapano and Lisa Danielle; pet portrait artist Shasta Molnar; wildlife artists Adele Earnshaw and Joe Garcia; equine photographer Gregg Albracht; impressionistic cowboy watercolorist Don Weller; equine graphite artist Maria D’Angelo; and pyrographic animal realist Julie Bender.
Today, new visitors as well as seasoned collectors, art lovers, and friends continue their tradition of visiting Mountain Trails Galleries in Sedona to see the wide range of fine art and to be a part of the celebration of new works of art and monthly exhibitions. All of us at Mountain Trails continue to be inspired by our passionate and dedicated artists and we are grateful for all our valued collectors and supporters of the arts as the gallery continues its legacy of offering the best in fine art from the West.
