Born and raised in Tulsa, Mikel Donahue was taught about life on the ranch by his paternal grandfather who raised cattle in northcentral Oklahoma. It was Mikel’s maternal grandfather who exposed him to Western art at an early age with memorable trips to Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum and what was then the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. 

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Fascinated by both life on the ranch and the iconic art of masters such as Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington, Mikel has become in his adult life a perfect amalgam of his childhood influences with an award-winning art career and a life of breeding quarter horses with his wife Christine on their property outside Broken Arrow, Okla.

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Donahue was inducted into Cowboy Artists of America in 2016 and is best known for his impeccable depictions of cowboy life. His drawings and paintings portray ranch life during the daily rituals of sunup to sundown work. Fascinated both by life on the ranch and the iconic art of Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington, Donahue has become a perfect amalgam of his influences.

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In May 2017, Donahue was inducted into the Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame, an honor that includes musicians Leon Russell, David Gates, Elvin Bishop, designers Paul Davis, and Joe Johnston. Donahue’s numerous awards include the John Steven Jones Purchase Award from the Bosque Art Classic at the Bosque Arts Center in Clifton, Texas, the Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Award for Artist of the Year, and the prestigious Premier Platinum Award and the William E. Weiss Purchase Award at the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale in Cody, Wyo. 

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He has shown in the Prix de West and Small Works, Great Wonders at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City; Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art; and Night of Artists at the Briscoe Museum. His work hangs in many museums, galleries, and private collections throughout the country and has been featured in Art of the West, American Art Collector, Southwest Art, Western Horseman, American Cowboy, America’s Horse, and The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal.

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Mikel is a graduate of the University of Tulsa and a 33-year veteran and multiple award-winning
designer within the advertising/graphic design business.

Visit his website at mikeldonahue.com