OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, Wednesday, February 26, 2025 – The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is excited to announce the individuals who will be honored for their creative achievements from 2024 at the 64th Western Heritage Awards. Every year, the Museum recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to Western heritage through exceptional creative works in film, television, literature and music.
Honorees will be presented with a Wrangler award at the Western Heritage Award ceremony held at the Museum in Oklahoma City on Saturday, April 12, 2025. The Wrangler is a bronze sculpture of a cowboy on horseback created by the late Oklahoma artist and 2017 Hall of Great Westerners inductee Harold T. Holden.
The Western Heritage Awards also serve as the induction ceremony for the Museum’s Hall of Great Westerners and Hall of Great Western Performers, as well as the presentation ceremony for the Lifetime Achievement Award and Chester A. Reynolds Award, named after the Museum's founder.
The Presenting Sponsor of this year’s Western Heritage Awards ceremony is the National Western Stock Show’s “Honoring the Legacy, Building the Future” campaign.
The Museum will once again hold a Kick-Off Party on Friday, April 11 at 5:30 p.m. to offer the public the exclusive opportunity to mingle with inductees and honorees while enjoying complimentary refreshments and live entertainment by Chloe Fredericks. The Kick-Off Party will be Presented by Pendleton Whisky.
Tickets for the Friday Kick-Off Party are $70 for Museum members and $85 for general admission. Tickets for the Saturday Western Heritage Awards ceremony are $250.
Tickets for both events will be available for purchase on February 26, 2025, at 8 a.m. The events are expected to sell out quickly, and reservations will be processed in the order received.
To reserve a ticket, visit https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/wha-awards-classic/2025-wha-award-tickets/.
Western Heritage Awards Honorees
FILM & TELEVISION HONOREES
Western Lifestyle Program
The Roundup: A Cowboy State Daily Podcast with “Longmire” Author Craig Johnson, hosted by Wendy Corr and produced by Jimmy Orr
Theatrical Motion Picture
Tokyo Cowboy, starring Arata Iura, directed by Marc Marriott and written by Dave Boyle
Playing Cowboy, directed by Bob Terry, produced by Westerns on The Web Productions
Fictional Drama
“Desire Is All You Need,” Yellowstone, directed by Christina Alexandra Voros, produced by Taylor Sheridan
LITERATURE HONOREES
Nonfiction Book
The Colfax County War: Violence and Corruption in Territorial New Mexico by Corey Recko, published by University of North Texas Press
Art Book
Making the Unknown Known: Women in Early Texas Art by Victoria H. & Light Townsend Cummins, published by Texas A&M University Publishing
Juvenile Book
Glory Be! It’s Punkin’s Story! by Carolyn Wills, Self Published
Magazine Article
After Birth by Kathryn Wilder, published by The Missouri Review
Western Novel
Malas by Marcela Fuentes, published by Viking Publishing
Poetry Book
Earl's Own Dakota Odyssey by Bruce Roseland, published by Scurfpea Publishing
MUSIC HONOREES
Original Western Composition
“I Am A Cowboy,” recording artist Caleb Martin, composed by Montie Carol Montgomery
Traditional Western Album
On the Trail with the Lonesome Pine, recording artist Hilary Gardner
Western Heritage Awards Inductees and Lifetime Achievement Honorees
Hall of Great Westerners
Louise S. O’Connor
Dr. Baxter Black (1945-2022)
Hall of Great Western Performers
Graham Greene
Anthony Quinn (1915-2001)
Chester A. Reynolds Award
Warner Glenn
Lifetime Achievement Award
Brooks & Dunn
About the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City is America’s premier institution of Western history, art and culture. Founded in 1955, the Museum collects, preserves and exhibits an internationally renowned collection of Western art and artifacts while sponsoring dynamic educational programs to stimulate interest in the enduring legacy of the American West. For more information, visit nationalcowboymuseum.org.