Veryl Goodnight (born January 26, 1947) is a

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and since 2006 has been living in

Mancos Mancos is a statutory town in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,196 at the 2020 census, down from 1,336 in 2010. The town is in southwestern Colorado, at the base of Mesa Verde National Park, and holds the trademar ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. She is known for her equine sculpture - in particular a realistic depiction of horses, often in an

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

context.Veryl Goodnight is Member of the American Academy of Equine Art, Inc
She was inducted into the

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an edu ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

, in 2016. Goodnight is best known for her 1996 and 1998 statues '' The Day the Wall Came Down''.

Early life

Veryl was born in

Ashland, Ohio Ashland is a city in and the county seat of Ashland County, Ohio, United States, 66 miles southwest of Cleveland and 82 miles northeast of Columbus. The population was 20,362 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Ashland Micropolitan S ...

, on January 26, 1947, but her family moved to

Lakewood, Colorado The City of Lakewood is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 155,984 at the 2020 U.S. Census making Lakewood the fifth most populous city in Col ...

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 is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayo ...

s and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...

s.Reynolds, Gretchen. All the Pretty Horses. Southwest Art. 2006; July issue: 159-163.

Education

In 1965, Veryl had the opportunity for a scholarship to study art at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

, but declined because she did not wish to study

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, 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 1 ...

, which was the predominant form being taught at that time. She attended business school in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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, 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''

She is best known for her 1996 sculpture '' The Day the Wall Came Down'', a tribute to the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...

. It features five horses jumping over the rubble of the Berlin Wall. There are two copies of the sculpture. The first, finished in 1996, is located at the

George Bush Presidential Library The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and burial site of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States (1989–1993), and his wife Barbara Bush. Located on a site on the west campus of T ...

in College Station, Texas. The second, finished in 1998, was given as a gift from the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and is located at Clayallee near the

Allied Museum The Allied Museum (german: AlliiertenMuseum) is a museum in Berlin. It documents the political history and the military commitments and roles of the Western Allies ( US, France and Britain) in Germany – particularly Berlin – between 1945 a ...

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 Experience in

Parker, Colorado Parker is a home rule municipality in Douglas County, Colorado, United States. As a self-declared "town" under the home rule statutes, Parker is the second most populous town in the county; Castle Rock is the most populous (the community of Hi ...

* J. Wayne Stark Galleries *

Great Plains Art Museum The Great Plains Art Museum is a fine arts museum located in Lincoln, Nebraska that is dedicated to the arts of the Great Plains in the United States. The museum, which opened in 1981 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was founded with the C ...

Other monuments created by Veryl "are on display at The Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum in Oklahoma City; the

Houston Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

;

Brookgreen Gardens Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in South Carolina. The property includes several themed gardens featuring American figurative sculptures, the Lowcountry Zoo, and trails throu ...

Murrells Inlet, South Carolina Murrells Inlet is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,547 at the 2010 census. It is about 13 miles south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and 21 miles north ...

; 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

* 2016 Inductee National Cowgirl Hall of Fame * Elected Fellow of National Sculpture Society * 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

Books

Goodnight has published a biography: ''No Turning Back: The Art of Veryl Goodnight.''

References

External references

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodnight, Veryl American women sculptors Artists of the American West Animal artists People from Ashland, Ohio 1947 births Living people Sculptors from Colorado People from Lakewood, Colorado Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century American women artists Women autobiographers American autobiographers