Staff photo by Fritz Busch New Ulm artist June Newburg stands near her art exhibit at Lykke Books, 203 Minnesota St. North prior to a reception Thursday. Her paintings and multimedia works celebrate western culture through Sunday, Oct. 13 at the bookstore.

NEW ULM — Artist June Newburg is doing her part to ensure the rural legacy and cowboy rancher lifestyle isn’t forgotten.

Using knowledge gained in her youth growing up in Willow Lake, South Dakota, Newburg’s art exhibit at Lykke Books through Sunday, Oct. 13 is an example of the profession of many in South Dakota and other western states.

Her oil painting “Four Generations at Edleman Ranch” features worn cowboy boots including the dress boots of her father Elmer, her brother Myron’s work boots, her nephew Myron’s work boots with thicker soles and boots with more square-toed boots representing more recent times.

Newburg’s “Three Generations” depicts a rear view of a Chevy pickup and the heads and shoulders of her father Elmer, her brother Myron and his son Marshall.

Her painting “Heading Home” is a portrait of Myron carrying a saddle after a long day of work.

Other family members that are models in Newburg’s art include her aunt and uncle and Myron’s grandchildren.

Some of her other art subjects include a rodeo barrel racer, prairie flower, decorated cow skull, a boot’s intricate leather design, a hay bale, grain elevator, railroad depot, country schoolhouse, farm buildings, gas pumps and windmills.

“My family members are my (art) models. They work cheap. I pay them off with paintings,” she said.

For decades, Newburg, who been an artist for 55 years, followed family members on the home ranch, taking many photos of them working and playing.

“This is a small representation of what I have. I’ve worked on landscapes. Prior to that, I concentrated on birch trees with a pallet knife,” she said.

“I started as an art major in college but realized I wasn’t going to make a living out of it, so I went into elementary education,” Newburg said.

She was an elementary teacher in South Dakota and Minnesota. After marrying Huon Newburg in 1968, she quit teaching after their first child was born.

Newburg later joined an art club in Glenwood and has been an artist since. The family moved to New Ulm in 1985.

Using oils, graphite and colored pencils, she has woman many regional and national art awards. Her paintings hang across the United States, in many European countries and in her home studio and gallery.

For more information, visit junenewburg.com.