Bill Owen was born in 1942 in Gila Bend, Arizona to a mother who was an artist and a father who had been a cowboy throughout the early 1900s. These influences shaped his desire to be an artist and cultivated his interest in the cowboy lifestyle, culminating in a lifelong quest to chronicle the lives and works of the contemporary cowboy.

Owen has exhibited around the world and won many awards in his 40+ year career in art, but feels most blessed to be a member of the Cowboy Artists of America while making a living doing what he loves.  Inducted into the CAA in 1973, Bill did not have the pleasure of exhibiting with the group at the Cowboy Hall of Fame.  It has long been his desire for the group to return to the museum where it all began, and he is thrilled to be a part of this historic homecoming.

Bill looks forward to the CAs enjoying a mutually rewarding relationship with the leadership and talented staff of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and developing new friendships with the members of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association.  As they share their mutual respect and love for the Western way of life through the artwork created for and exhibited at Cowboy Crossings, Bill hopes it will instill the same feelings within you.

In 1989, while practicing for a rodeo, Bill survived a freak accident which resulted in the loss of sight in his right eye, affecting his depth perception and forcing him to give up sculpting.  He never allowed himself to consider this loss a handicap but greatly missed the medium for thirteen years, successfully resuming sculpting in 2002.

For all of Bill’s artistic achievements, he is especially proud of The Arizona Cowpuncher’s Scholarship Organization, which he founded in 1995 to help finance college educations for young people from Arizona ranching families.

Bill and his wife Valerie live in Kirkland, Arizona.