Chris Navarro is a true Wyoming cowboy — team roper, former rodeo and bronco rider — who became a self-taught, award-winning bronze sculptor. Chris graduated from high school in Madrid, Spain, and then attended Casper College. He came to Casper on a scholarship to rodeo for the legendary Dale Stiles in bull and bronc riding. Following college, he pursued a career in rodeo, hoping to one day be a pro bull rider, but his rodeo career was cut short by injuries. He then went to work for an oil inspection company in Casper.

One day he saw an amazing bronze sculpture by his artist friend Harry Jackson. Navarro yearned to own the piece, but the $35,000 price tag stopped him. He decided that if he couldn't buy it, perhaps he could make one. That day he went out and bought everything he needed to teach himself to sculpt in bronze. Through a lot of trial and error, he achieved his dream of becoming an award-winning bronze sculptor. Since 1986, Chris has created beautifully inspired bronze sculptures and is known for his monumental bronzes in wildlife, Native American, inspirational, rodeo, and western themes. He has been commissioned throughout the country and has completed 30 bronze monumental sculptures, including the monument in memory of World Champion Bull Rider Lane Frost at Frontier Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming. His recent work includes a life-size T. rex for the Tate Museum in Casper, Wyoming, and a 16-foot-tall bronze of the famous bucking horse Steamboat for the University of Wyoming. He was chosen as the Honorary Artist for the 2015 Buffalo Bill Art Show in Cody, Wyoming. Other monuments include When Champions Meet, a 15-foot saddle bronc rider at the entrance to the Stampede Rodeo Arena in Greeley, Colorado; 10th Mountain, a 14-foot World War II ski soldier displayed in Aspen, Colorado; and a 15-foot monument titled 20% Chance of Flurries, commissioned by the Colorado State Department of Agriculture to honor the farmers and ranchers of Colorado and placed on the Colorado State University campus.

Chris believes that although his monuments are time-consuming, taking months and months to design and create, the satisfaction of completion is its own reward. As Chris says, "To know my sculptures will be standing in the sun long after I'm gone, for future generations to experience and enjoy, is thrilling. I've found something I really love to do, and when I finish a sculpture, it becomes part of me. My work has always been intertwined with my life. They say a man needs three things in his life for real happiness: someone to love, work that is satisfying, and something to hope for. I feel very fortunate to have all this and more. Family, horses, rodeo, and art have been the driving passions of my life. I love what I do for a living and hope others can see that through the work I have created."

His reflections of the West have given Navarro a national following. His limited editions are coveted by collectors across the country.

Chris is also the author of four books, “The Art of Rodeo, Chasing the Wind, Embrace the Struggle, and Dare to Dream Big — which explore his life, his work, and the rodeo and Western subjects that inspire it.

Chris's collection can be seen at the Navarro Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Tlaquepaque Plaza in Sedona, Arizona, at 336 Hwy 179, Suite #D103, phone (928) 204-1144, and in over a dozen museums across the country.

Visit chrisnavarro.com.

b. 1956

Resides: Casper, Wyoming and Sedona, Arizona, U.S.A.

Artistic Specialization: Monumental bronze sculpture

Organizations: Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Colorado Springs, CO; Pioneer Museum, Douglas, WY; Buffalo Bill Historical Museum; Old West Museum, Cheyenne, WY

Commissions: Accepted https://chrisnavarro.com/