Joe N. Beeler, born in 1931, in Joplin, Missouri is a pioneer in contemporary western art and is accomplished in both painting and bronzes. A 1960 one-man show at the Thomas L. Gilcrease Museum launched his career of national acclaim, honors, and awards. In 1965, Beeler helped found the Cowboy Artists of America, and that same year cast his first bronze.

"The Cowboy Artists of America have played a major role in the popularization of cowboy art. In the late fifties there were few western art collectors, I came very lose to having to move to the city, but when all seemed lost the Gilcrease Museum gave me my one-man show. Soon rabbit and quail gave way to beef-steak at our dinner table."