Donahue, Mikel

Mikel Donahue
Born 1956 in Tulsa, Oklahoma; lives in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

A MULTIPLE AWARD-WINNING member of the Cowboy Artists of America, artist Mikel Donahue is best known for his impeccable depictions of cowboy life. His drawings and paintings portray ranchers and their livestock during the day-to-day ritual of sun-up to sun-down work on the ranch. What may seem as mundane chores are captured and translated through his artistic style into moments of meaning and reflection.

Donahue, who was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was taught about life on the ranch by his paternal grandfather who raised cattle in northcentral Oklahoma. It was Donahue’s maternal grandfather who exposed him to western art at an early age with memorable trips to Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum and what was then the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Fascinated both by life on the ranch and the iconic art by the likes of Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington, as an adult, Donahue has become a perfect amalgam of his influences with a life breeding racing quarter horses with his wife Christie on their place outside Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and an award-winning career in the arts.

Notable Awards and Achievements

2023 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Gold Medal for Mixed Media
2023 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Silver Medal for Mixed Media
2022 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Ray Swanson Memorial Award
2022 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Gold Medal for Mixed Media
2022 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Silver for Water Solubles
2021 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Anne Marion Best of Show,
2021 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Gold Medal for Mixed Media
2021 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Silver Medal for Water Solubles
2019 The Society of Animal Artists, Art and the Animal, select traveling exhibition
2019 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Gold Medal for Mixed Media
2019 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Silver Medal for Water Solubles
2018 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Silver Medal for other media
2017 Cowboy Artists of America, Annual Exhibition and Sale, Silver Medal for Water Solubles
2017 Inductee, Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame
2013 Bosque Arts Center, Bosque Art Classic, John Steven Jones Purchase Award
2011 Academy of Western Artists, Will Rogers Award for Artist of the Year
2010 Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, Premier Platinum Award and William E. Weiss Purchase Award
2009 Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, Artists’ Choice Award
2009 American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum, America’s Horse in Art Show & Sale, Featured Artist
2009 Solo Exhibition at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2008 Working Ranch Cowboys Association, Cowboy Art Show and Sale, Best of Show (also in 2006)