July 2006 Page 16

> JOE BEELER native of Joplin
Beeler was born in 1931 in Joplin, studied at the incredibly fine Art Center School in Los Angeles, became a founding member of Cowboy Artists of America, spent a good part of the remainder of his life in Sedona, AZ and was given a retrospective at Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum of Western Art. He passed away recently. Several of his sculptures and early paintings/drawings are to be found locally, as he was highly regarded by people who live here and knew him. Steve Anderson, the proprietor of Anderson's Western Wear (established by his father in 1953) on Range Line remembers when the artist once lived for a time at his parent's ranch down near Tipton Ford, and traded some art for a Stetson and jeans.

> AMERICAN ART TOWNS
Tidbits, an upbeat free local newsletter given out in more than 200 Joplin businesses published (Vol 3 Issue 9) an interesting one of those "Magic Maze" letter games where you circle hidden words in any of four directions... on the topic of art towns in America (only ones not composed of two words, e.g. New York, Santa Fe or San Francisco). It was a fun thing, and a reminder about the OTHER places where art is a vital part of the local economy.