Bringing the Legacy to Life !

Click Play to see the new museum show: Portraits of the West

A Kiowa poet once remarked that the American West is a place that has to be seen to be believed, and it may have to be believed in order to be seen.   Kenneth M. Freeman had the talent to draw, paint and sculpt the West as he had seen and experienced it.  His unique combination of light and depth of color, together with rich cultural heritage, has left us with a body of work that connect with the soul and spirit of the American West.

Ken was affectionately called The Rembrandt of the Rodeo by members of the press.  The painting technique Ken learned at the American Art Academy interpreted the personalities that characterize our most common perceptions of the West -- the cowboys and cowgirls, Native American elders and children, the Buffalo Soldiers, mountain men, and, of course, the rodeo heroes. 

As actor Robert Fuller stated, "Ken was a cowboy."  For artist Kenneth M. Freeman, the cowboy hat and boots were not a gimmick.  Neither was his Arizona attitude.  Ken Freeman may have grown up in a traditional Jewish home in Chicago, Illinois but make no mistake … he was a cowboy.   

There are no short cuts to a fine painting!

Kenneth M. Freeman

Bonnie Adams, the curator of the Kenneth M. Freeman Legacy, is awarded Ken's Lifetime Achievement Award from Western Artists of America President Ed Holmes.	Interview with Curator Deb Bentlage Portraits of the West Exhibition for June 2010 The Phippen Art Museum, Prescott, AZ

Click here to read the presentation of Ken's Lifetime Achievement Award

from Western Artists of America.  Click here for high resolution image of the award.

Kenneth M. Freeman

(1935 - 2008)

Scottsdale, Arizona

  Seven Page Feature on Ken Freeman

Online Museum Catalogue Here!

We have sixteen streaming videos here.