Exploring the Art of Sculpture and Horses

Tuesday, July 16 | 4:30 p.m. | Coe Auditorium

Buffalo Bill Center of the West

Join us for an engaging and inspiring presentation by renowned Montana sculptor Deborah Butterfield. This special event offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from one of the most influential artists working in contemporary sculpture today. Butterfield will share personal reflections on her creative process, her enduring relationship with horses as artistic muse and subject, and the evolution of her sculptural work over the past five decades. Her talk will offer a deeper understanding of the emotional and symbolic resonance that her sculptures carry, as well as the technical processes behind their creation. Best known for her expressive and powerful bronze horse sculptures, Butterfield’s work captures the delicate balance between strength and vulnerability. In 2023, the Center proudly acquired her monumental piece Portal, a commanding presence now installed in the Whitney Western Art Museum. During her presentation, Butterfield will discuss the making of Portal, its significance within her body of work, and how it reflects broader themes in her artistic journey.

This event is free and open to the public, and all are welcome. Whether you’re a longtime admirer or new to her work, this is a unique chance to connect with a trailblazing artist whose vision has left a lasting mark on American art.

About the Artist

For over four decades, Deborah Butterfield has created distinctive sculptures that explore the physical and spiritual presence of horses—subjects that serve as both personal symbols and universal archetypes. She constructs her freestanding forms from materials such as driftwood, scrap metal, and other found objects, later casting them in bronze to preserve their raw, organic textures. Her approach is deeply intuitive: she works without sketches or models, allowing instinct and experience to guide the shape and character of each piece.

Born in San Diego, California, Butterfield received both her BA and MFA from the University of California, Davis, where she studied with prominent figures of the West Coast art movement. She taught sculpture at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Montana State University, Bozeman, and has lived and worked in Montana for many years—drawing inspiration from the land, the animals, and the rhythms of rural life.

Her work has been exhibited widely and collected by leading institutions across the country. Major museums that hold her sculptures in their permanent collections include the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Through her singular focus, innovative materials, and sculptural sensitivity, Butterfield has established a body of work that is both grounded in tradition and wholly original—an enduring contribution to the landscape of American art.