Selected Artist: ROY HARRIS

First a cowboy and then a college professor, Dr. Roy M. Harris utilized his experience, education, and artistic skill to become an internationally recognized western and wildlife sculptor.

Harris, an animal science professor and self-taught artist, works out of his studio in Eagle, Idaho.

Roy’s sculpture demonstrates a passion for precision and proportion. His sculptures are technically and structurally correct with natural composition. The pieces display emotional expression and spiritual understanding, and very often, a cowboy's sense of humor.

“Art educates the senses, it educates the mind, it educates the emotions and it educates the soul,” said Harris. In regard to sculpting, he said, “Unless you have lived it, breathed it and spiritually been a part of it, to give it life and a soul is virtually an impossibility."

During his tenure as a professor of animal sciences at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, Harris was commissioned to create a life-sized bronze sculpture of a mustang for the university. Boise State University commissioned Roy to create a monument of the BSU Bronco mascot for display outside the BSU football stadium. Roy's work was also part of the Professional Rodeo Association’s 1980 display at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. His commissions include two life-sized skiers for Idaho's Sun Valley Resort, and sculpture of champion Arabian mare, Abha Hamirin, for the Prince of Spain. His pieces are in the private collections of former presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.