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The National Advisory Board of the University of Wyoming Art Museum invites you to dust off your boots and kick up your heels at A Hat Ball, our benefit Gala to be held May 18, 2024, at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center, in Laramie, Wyoming.
Take a look at last year's Gala.
Our 2024 Gala theme mirrors an iconic sculpture, Cowgirl Hat Ball, that introduces The New West, a major exhibition celebrating our place in the West, and the 50th anniversary of the UW Art Museum, featuring artworks from the permanent collection.
This fundraising event provides essential support for the museum’s programs, which serve Wyoming’s communities, teachers, faculty, students, and visitors. Over 50% of the UW Art Museum’s annual operating budget comes from private donations, including Gala proceeds. In addition to high-quality exhibitions and a growing collection, the museum’s education programs increase critical and independent thinking skills, promote collaboration, and contribute to student preparedness in our global society.
Terry Maker’s Cowgirl Hat Ball, composed of 500 straw hats, stands both as a celebration of Western culture and a challenge to gendered assumptions. Maker, a Texas-born artist based in Colorado, is known for her use of deconstructed and reconstructed materials, discarded objects, and a playful manipulation of scale. The Cowgirl Hat Ball is currently on display in the University of Wyoming Art Museum's rotunda as part of the The New West exhibition.
Join the auction remotely and aim to win the bid with our $75 Sharpshooter non-attendee ticket!
The online silent auction will be available during the event hours, and registered bidders will receive information before the Gala. Note that the auction will close at the same time, whether in person or online.
Winning bidders will be responsible for payment of the shipping cost associated with mailing the items won, or local (Laramie) pick-up of your items can be arranged within one week after the Gala.
Image:
Terry Maker (American, b. 1953), Cowgirl Hat Ball, 2019, wood with straw cowgirl hats, 10 feet diameter, courtesy of the artist