NCHA News

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame Announces the 2022 Inductees

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame will welcome four 2022 Inductees and two award winners at the 46^th Annual Induction Luncheon and Ceremony. The luncheon will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022 at the Dickies Arena. 

These incoming Hall of Fame members represent a wide range of cowgirls including a philanthropist, a writer, a rancher, and a stock contractor. The induction 2022 class includes Sherry Cagan, Gretel Ehrlich, Heidi Redd, and Kirsten Vold.  

“We are honored to welcome this outstanding class of inductees and add their remarkable stories and accomplishments to the amazing group of honorees they are joining in the Museum’s Hall of Fame,” said the Museum’s Executive Director Patricia Riley. “Congratulations to all.” 

Sherry Wolfenbarger Cagan is a horsewoman, philanthropist, and an artist.  She began the Stanford Lyme Working Group, an interdisciplinary collaborative research program consisting of 30 scientists, physicians, and department chairs. Additionally, Cagan initiated the first CME Lyme disease conference at Stanford.  As a sculptor, she has received critical acclaim for her life-size monuments, and her work has been featured in several art magazines.  

Gretel Ehrlich is a nature writer, novelist, essayist, and poet raised on a California horse ranch.  After working in film for 10 years, she began writing full-time while living on a Wyoming ranch in 1978.  Ehrlich’s work has been widely published, including in Harper’s, The Atlantic, Life, Time, and The New York Times Magazine.  Her latest work, Unsolaced, examines her travels in nature around the world and provides meaningful insight on a changing climate. 

Heidi Redd is an accomplished adventurer and rancher, running one of Utah’s largest ranches.  She is credited with co-creating an innovative partnership between working ranches and land conservation organizations.  Redd partnered with The Nature Conservancy Utah Chapter in 1997 to preserve her 5,200 acres of land, 300,000 acres of grazing allotments, biodiversity and unspoiled red rock scenery.  In 2009, the Canyonlands Research Center was established as a year-around outdoor laboratory for scientists, universities, and federal agencies.  

Kirsten Vold began day-to-day management of Vold Rodeo Management Company at the age of 25 and has continued to build on the legacy that her father began nearly six decades ago.  Kirsten now spends more than 200 days each year on the rodeo trail and oversees one of the most decorated and respected rodeo stock companies in the industry. A genuine love of animals is the driving force for Vold, who runs approximately 200 head of bucking horses for her rodeo company on a ranch south of Pueblo, Colorado.  

These Inductees will join over 240 cowgirls in the Hall of Fame. The Museum proudly celebrates living and deceased Honorees who represent diverse backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures. Many of the Honorees are nationally and internationally recognized artists or writers, champions and competitive performers, entertainers, ranchers or trailblazers and pioneers. 

Additionally, the Museum is presenting two special awards this year. The Patsy Montana Award recipient is multi-faceted entertainer Faith Hill and the Fern Sawyer Award recipient is entrepreneur and cowgirl and Nadine Lipson.

About the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame 

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame honors and celebrates women, past and present, whose lives exemplify the courage, resilience and independence that helped shape the West, and fosters an appreciation of the ideals and spirit of self-reliance they inspire. Established in 1975, the Museum is considered an invaluable national educational resource for its exhibits, research library and rare photograph collection. Located at 1720 Gendy Street Fort Worth, Texas 76107. Hours of operation are Tuesday – Saturday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults (13+); $7 for seniors (60+); $4 for children (ages 3-12); free for military, first responders and children 3 and under with paid admission. For more news and information visit www.cowgirl.net or call 817.336.4475 and follow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.