Cortez has celebrated the western rodeo for years during the month of June, with the local American legion sponsoring the professional competition.

To draw attention to the West, the Cortez Cultural Center is sponsoring an art exhibit, "A Horse of a Different Color," from June 1 to June 30, that has its own western flavor.

The exhibit features two accomplished artists; Rick Stoner from Longmont, Colo. and Debra Nudson, from Dove Creek.

Stoner is well-known, not only in the Four Corners where he grew up, but also throughout the west for his works. Just a few years ago, he had a pastel exhibit in the Cortez Cultural Center of familiar landscape spots in the Four Corners.

The exhibit was a delight to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Stoner of Cortez.

Since then, he was in the 1999 "Artists of America" Exhibit in Denver; was the poster artist in 1996 for both Channel Six and Longmont’s "Rhythm on the River," and has been included in the Governor’s Invitational Art Show at the Loveland Museum for the last seven years.

Intense color is the earmark of Stoner’s works. Through the use of color, shadow and light, the viewer responds emotionally to his art.

Stoner was educated at Colorado State University and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he earned both his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees. Adding to his education, Stoner taught printmaking and drawing at the same two universities as well as at the University of Denver.

Debra Nudson of Dove Creek, was raised on the Kansas prairie with little restraint on her activities. As a young woman, she struck out on her own with a small travel trailer and a dog, looking for some kind of structure for her life.

While traveling in the Arizona desert, she came across beautiful pieces of beadwork and was immediately struck by the desire to learn how it was done. A true folk artist, she learned by attempting to do the work on her own. Occasionally, she located a generous beader who would help her solve problems.