For immediate release

Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale
Cody, Wyoming
Contact Deb Stafford, Director
1-888-598-8119, or (307) 587-5002
info@buffalobillartshow.com

Fillerup Receives William E. Weiss Purchase Award

Cody, Wyo.—The Buffalo Bill Historical Center will acquire Yellowstone Lilies, a major oil painting by Cody artist Melvin M. Fillerup, as part of its permanent collection through the auspices of the William E. Weiss Acquisitions Fund.

Fillerup’s selection as the 20th annual recipient of the coveted William E. Weiss Purchase Award is the second major honor he has received this year. He is also the 2005 Honored Artist of the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, which takes center stage Sept. 23-24 with a live auction and quick draw at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.

The Purchase Award honors the memory ot William E. Weiss (1913-1985), a trustee and arts benefactor of the Historical Center. Weiss started an art acquisitions fund, which was later expanded, named for him, and used in part to support the Award. Since 1986 the Center has annually given the Weiss Purchase Award to acquire a work of art for the Historical Center’s permanent collection.

Yellowstone Lilies, a 2004 oil painting measuring 52 x 46 inches, features a field of lilies inspired by Fillerup’s favorite places, such as alongside De Lacy Creek on the approach to Shoshone Lake and Isa Lake on Craig Pass, in Yellowstone National Park. The painting will be on display through Sept. 23 as part of the Historical Center’s exhibition of the Buffalo Bill Art Show.

Born in 1924 in Lovell, Wyo., and a Cody resident since the early 1950s, Fillerup is a consummate plein air painter who bases 80 percent of his work on studies in the field. He has created some 3,000 paintings and countless sketches spanning subjects from landscapes and animals to portraits, scenes of ranch life, and sailboats on the sea.

Working in oil, watercolor, and drawings, he has primarily canvassed the American West, particularly Wyoming and Utah, and traced his worldwide travels through Mexico, Australia, Portugal, and other far-flung locales. He is especially fond of Yellowstone and the surrounding region, noting “it has it all,” from cowboy life to wildlife and landscapes.

As 2005 Honored Artist of the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, Fillerup will give a free public lecture 2-3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, at the Historical Center. From 3-4 p.m., he’ll sign copies of the commemorative Rendezvous Royale poster, which features Yellowstone Lilies. He will also sign copies of The Artistry of Melvin M. Fillerup, a book about his life and works by Carl Bechtold.

The Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale is the cornerstone of Cody’s annual celebration of the arts, the Rendezvous Royale, Sept. 21-24, including the Historical Center’s Patrons Ball and the Western Design Conference—an exhibit and sale of cutting-edge creations by 100 leading western furnishing and fashion designers.

The four-day arts festival includes special exhibits, studio tours, artist demonstrations, and seminars, concluding with the main auction of the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale on Sept. 23 and a quick draw and auction on Sept. 24. For more information, call the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, 307-587-5002, email info@buffalobillartshow.com, or visit www.buffalobillartshow.com or www.rendezvousroyale.org.