Collection: Howell-Sickles, Donna

Having grown up on a ranch in North Texas close to the Red River, Donna Howell-Sickles developed her affinity for nature and animals at an early age. Howell-Sickles’ artwork is about women and their role in the American West. She retells women’s stories and myths using the cowgirl as a medium.

Howell-Sickles graduated from Texas Tech University with a BFA in Painting and Drawing in 1973 and has been following her passion for making art ever since.

An antique postcard of an unidentified cowgirl she found while in college sparked Donna’s interest in the cowgirl.  The original “cowgirls” were America’s first female professional athletes, women of skill and daring like no other women America had ever seen.  They defied conventional wisdom by following their own hearts and in doing so; they became a symbol of women living an active life filled with friendship, family and joy.

Along with winning numerous awards, Howell-Sickles has been published in countless print articles and has been included in many books.  A book about her artwork, “Cowgirl Rising” was published in 1997 by Greenwich Workshop. In November 2007, Donna Howell-Sickles was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas in honor of the body of work she has created about the Cowgirl.

Her distinctive artwork filled with bright colors and spirited cowgirls can be found in nine museum collections and has been included in many gallery exhibitions across the country.

Donna Howell-Sickles and her husband John Sickles are Native Texans.  Donna was born in Gainesville and her Great Great Uncle is Saint Jo’s co-founder Joseph A. Howell.  Donna and John moved to Saint Jo full time in Dec of 2000.  They spent the next decade researching Saint Jo history and renovating the historic Davis & Blevins Building that now houses their fine art gallery.