A Family Affair in Great Falls

Fifteen shows, hundreds of artists, and dozens of events —that’s what makes Western Art Week in Great Falls, Montana so appealing. This year, there’s another key stat for the Winborg family: three generations of artists from the same family, who share the same studio space, all participating in Western Art Week. Larry C. Winborg, his son, Jeremy Winborg, and Jeremy’s daughter, Swede Winborg, will all be in attendance.

“We’re a family of artists,” Larry Winborg says. The patriarch of this art family, Larry has been an artist for over 60 years, and has been participating in Western Art Week for the last five. Coming from a family of six generations of blacksmiths, Larry broke the mold as the first artist, and has seen the legacy continued with more generations of Winborgs. “[Art has] really been a family thing and we have other grandchildren who are studying art right now and daughters that teach art.”

Larry C. Winborg

Jeremy Winborg

Swede Winborg

His son, Jeremy, started pursuing art in high school, and, for the last 7 years, has been focusing on Western subjects, particularly Native American and Indigenous figurative work. “I got really good auction results, and I’ve been doing it every since. It’s been a really good show for me,” Jeremy says. This is his eighth year in The Russell.

“This is my first year doing it, but I remember going to The Russell with my dad when I was like 12 years old,” Swede Winborg says, Jeremy’s eighteen-year-old daughter and Larry’s granddaughter. “It’s crazy that I’m in it now.” Swede always thought she would be an artist, and, growing up in a family of artists, she feels it gave her a leg up to start her art career early. “If I didn’t have my dad and my grandpa, I don’t think I would have had a clue what to do, not gonna lie.”

Western Art Week 2024 is the first event where all three of these artists will be participating. Jeremy and Swede will be sharing a booth at the Out West Art Show, and Larry will have a booth right next to theirs. All three Winborgs have a piece in The Russell’s auction, and Jeremy and Larry will both be painting in The Russell’s Art in Action quick draw event. “And all the proceeds from [Art in Action] goes to the museum, so we make a contribution there, and it’s nice to be able to do that,” Larry says.

Western Art Week has started to feel like family to the Winborgs, and that’s why Jeremy and Larry keep coming back —and why Swede joined them this year. “Every time you go back, it’s like a family reunion with the artists and the buyers and the people that put it on,” Jeremy says. “Plus, it’s a great place to sell your paintings, which is, in the end, what we want to do.”