By Michael McCoy
Special to The PREVIEW

Pagosa Springs artist Donna Merchant-Crooks has won the Western Spirit
award at the 21st annual Western Design Conference (WDC) in Jackson Hole,
Wyo. The award includes a cash prize of $1,000, sponsored by Lora A. Sandroni.

The artist’s winning piece is a carved cherrywood chair embellished with bronze and upholstered in leather.

Chosen by a panel of six judges, the WDC winners were announced Friday, Sept. 6, at the Design Excellence Awards Ceremony and Celebratory Reception at the Snow King Center.
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By Blair Koch for the Times-News

Before moving from the Magic Valley more than a decade ago, Donna Merchant-Crooks made an impact with her art as a certified drug and alcohol counselor.

Merchant-Crooks, 58, (formerly Donna Davis) now lives in Pagosa Springs, Colo., but will visit Twin Falls to present her traveling art show, “Can You Hear Me Now?” on May 3 at the Church of the Ascension.

“Idaho is a place that once you leave you’ll spend the rest of your life wanting to return to,” said Merchant-Crooks, who raised children in
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Three dimensional artists Chad Haspels and Donna Merchant-Crooks
will participate again at the fourth Art in the Garden Festival.

Art in the Garden will be held on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 3 to 7 p.m.,
in Chris Mountain Ranches.

Chad Haspels is a talented sculptor of wood. His beautiful pieces can
be seen at the front of the Pagosa Mountain Hospital, and he is well
known for his wooden animal sculptures.

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