Mike Kopriva, a lifelong Powell artist, is among those receiving the Governor's Arts Award on Friday.
Kopriva primarily works with acrylic paints and enjoys painting Western landscapes outdoors.
“I love doing mountain landscapes. I did a lot of climbing when I was in my younger years and went up the Grand Teton five times and three times up Devil's Tower, and we did a lot of that stuff. That was very inspiring for me.”
Kopriva also paints portraits and some of his sculptures and murals can be seen in Cody and Powell. “Wyoming, the Land of the People” is the name of his giant mural of scenes and people of Wyoming, which is in the legislative hearing room of the state Capitol.
Kopriva said that mural took about nine months to paint. It features prominent places and people across the state.
“With the upper left part being Yellowstone and the upper right there's Devil's Tower and then the lower right there's the University and over the lower left there's down around Fossil Butte, and there's geologists down there. And then I-80 right through the lower center of the painting”
One of his paintings called “The Spirit of Wyoming” is on board the USS Wyoming, a military submarine.
“It is a picture of the submarine at sunset. On the left side, you can see the Tetons, and then it moves into where you can see the Cody mountains, Cedar and Rattlesnake, and then Heart Mountain, and then Devil's Tower to the far right,” he said.
Kopriva said a big driver for him as an artist is the encouragement he received from his family.
“ And that's what you kind of live on when you're an artist,” he said.
Five other Wyomingites will be honored at the Governor's arts award banquet in Cheyenne. They include Jane Lavino, Sugden Chief Curator of Education at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, recognized for her dedication to arts education and curatorial excellence.
T. Allen Lawson, a celebrated landscape artist from Sheridan, known for his stunning depictions of Wyoming’s natural beauty.
Sue and Albert Sommers, advocates for the arts from Pinedale, honored for their longstanding commitment to promoting and supporting the arts in Wyoming. Sue is a painter, book artist, and printmaker; Albert served in the Wyoming legislature 2012-2024. The Sommers family has been ranching in Wyoming since about 1900.
Willie LeClair (Posthumous) was an Eastern Shoshone spiritual leader, teacher, and storyteller from Riverton, recognized for his profound impact on Native American culture and the arts.
