Veryl Goodnight’s career began the early 1970’s as a wildlife painter. Sculpture, however, dominated her work throughout the 1990s while residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Skilled in both mediums, her art has been featured during the past five decades in the most prestigious western museum exhibitions across the country. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2016 for a lifetime of portraying the West in bronze and paint.
Veryl feels her most important artistic contribution, despite having monuments in prominent locations worldwide, is her exploration of sled dogs’ roles in North American history. She devoted the largest part of fifteen years, creating paintings that highlighted historic moments where dogs were absolutely vital. Beginning with the first inhabitants of North America, who were almost certainly accompanied by sled dogs, Veryl highlighted the partnership between men and dogs down through the decades. Western Spirit Museum, a Smithsonian Subsidiary, in Scottsdale, Arizona, showcased the collection for an extended period of nine months. Helen Hegener, a noted Alaska historian and publisher, worked closely with Western Spirit to pair Veryl’s work with historical photos illustrating the little-known contributions sled dogs and their driver’s have had in developing North America. The most significant paintings were held off the market to facilitate that exhibit.
