National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Announces 2023 Western Heritage Awards Honorees

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is excited to announce the individuals who will be honored for their exceptional creative works in Western literature, music, television and film. Honorees will be presented with a Wrangler award during the 62^nd Western Heritage Awards Dinner held at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum on April 15.

This year, the Museum will hold a Kick-Off Party on April 14 at 5:30 p.m. and welcomes the public to mingle with inductees and honorees while enjoying complimentary refreshments, hors d’oeuvres and live music featuring Dan Miller's Cowboy Music Revue. Tickets for the Friday Kick-Off Party are $60 for members and $70 for general admission. Reservations will open March 1, 2023, at 8:00 a.m. CST.

Due to limited space and overwhelming support from the honorees’ and inductees’ families and friends, tickets to the awards dinner are not available for purchase at this time. To be added to the waitlist, visit nationalcowboymuseum.org/westernheritage. For event details, contact Hannah Forman at [email protected].

“We are so grateful for the support of our community and the excitement that this event generates every year,” said Pat Fitzgerald, Museum President & CEO. “The Western Heritage Awards is at the heart of what this Museum is all about and we want it to continue to grow so we can better honor our award winners, inductees and the legacy of the American West.”

Western Heritage Awards Honorees 

LITERATURE

Nonfiction Book
Love & Try by Andrew Giangola, published by Cedar Gate Publishing

Art/Photography Book
Ranchland: Wagonhound by Anouk Krantz, published by ACC ART BOOKS / IMAGES PUBLISHING

Juvenile Book
The Rowdy Randy Wild West Show by Casey Rislov, Zachary Pullen (illustrator), published by Mountain Stars Press

Magazine Article
"Texas Jack" Takes an Encore by Matthew Kerns, published by Wild West Magazine/HISTORYNET

Western Novel
Think of Horses: A Novel by Mary Clearman Blew, published by Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press

Poetry Book
Last Red Dirt Embrace by W.K. Stratton, published by Lamar University Literary Press

MUSIC

Original Western Composition
“Blues for 66,” recording artist Michael Martin Murphey and Ryan Murphey, composed by Michael Martin Murphey and Ryan Murphey

Traditional Western Album
WESTBOUND, recording artist Micki Fuhrman, composed by Micki Fuhrman

FILM & TELEVISION HONOREES

Western Lifestyle Program
Red Steagall is Somewhere West of Wall Street, “Reba,” produced by West of Wall Street Film Company, LLC

Theatrical Motion Picture 
Dead for a Dollar, starring Christoph Waltz and Willem Dafoe, written and directed by Walter Hill, produced by Carolyn McMaster and Neil Dunn with CHAOS a Film Production Company Inc.

Documentary
The Long Rider, directed by Filipe Masetti Leite, produced by Filipe Masetti Leite and Sean Cisterna

Fictional Drama
“Monster Slayer,” Dark Winds S1, E1, directed by Chris Eyre and Sanford Bookstaver, produced by Graham Roland, Vince Calandra, George R.R. Martin, Robert Redford, Tina Elmo, Vince Gerardis, Chris Eyre, Zahn McClarnon, Anne Hillerman and Wayne Morris

Western Heritage Awards Inductees and Award Winners

Hall of Great Westerners
Robert A. Funk Sr.
Daniel Webster "80 John" Wallace (1860-1939)

Hall of Great Western Performers
Lou Diamond Phillips
Bob Wills (1905-1975)

Chester A. Reynolds Award
Bobby Ingersoll

Lifetime Achievement Award
Red Steagall

Western Visionary Award
Pete Coors