CHRIS NAVARRO is a true Wyoming Cowboy, Team Roper, Former Rodeo and Bronco Rider who became a self-educated Award Winning Bronze Sculptor. Chris graduated from high school in Madrid, Spain and then attended Casper College. He came to Casper on a scholarship to rodeo for the legendary Dale Stiles in bull and bronc riding. Following college, he pursued a career in rodeo, hoping to one day be a pro bull rider but his rodeo career was cut short due to injuries. He then went to work for an oil inspection company in Casper.

One day he saw an amazing bronze sculpture by an artist friend Harry Jackson. Navarro yearned to own the piece, but the price tag, $35,000, stopped him. He decided that if he couldn’t buy it, perhaps he could just make one. That day he went to buy everything he would need to teach himself how to bronze. Through alot of trials and errors, he achieved his dream of becoming an Award Winning Bronze Sculptor. Since 1986, Chris has created beautifully inspired bronze sculptures and is famous for his amazing monumental bronzes in the areas of wildlife, Native Americans, inspirational, rodeo and western art. He has been commissioned throughout the country and has completed 30 bronze monumental sculptures including the monumental bronze in memory of “World Champion Bull Rider Lane Frost” which is located at Frontier Park in Cheyenne, WY. His most recent sculpture is a life-size “T Rex” for the Tate Museum in Casper Wyoming and a 16 foot tall Bronze of the famous bucking horse “Steamboat” for the University of Wyoming. He was chosen to be the Honorary Artist for the 2015 Buffalo Bill Art Show in Cody, WY. Other monuments include “When Champions Meet”, a 15-ft saddle bronc rider is placed at the entrance to the Stampede Rodeo Arena in Greeley, Colorado. The “1Oth Mountain”, a 14-ft World War II ski soldier is displayed in Aspen, Colorado. The Colorado State Department Of Agriculture commissioned Chris to create a 15-ft monument titled “20% Chance Of Flurries” to honor the farmers and ranchers of Colorado and is placed on the Colorado State University campus.

Chris believes that although his monuments are time consuming taking months and months to design and create, the personal satisfaction of completion is very rewarding. Chris states, “To know my sculptures will be standing in the sun long after I’m gone for future generations to experience and enjoy is thrilling. I’ve found something I really love to do and when I finish a sculpture, it becomes part of me. My work has always been intertwined with my life. They say a man needs three things in his life for real happiness: Someone to love, work that is satisfying, and something to hope for. I feel very fortunate to have this and more. Family, horses, rodeo and art have been the driving passions of my life. I love what I do for a living and hope others can see that through the work I have created.”

His reflections of the West have given Navarro a national following. His limited editions are coveted by collectors across the country.

Chris’ collection can be seen at the Navarro Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Tlaquepaque Plaza in Sedona, and in over a dozen museums across the country.
Organizations: Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Colorado Springs, Co.; Pioneer Museum Wy Buffalo Bill Historical Museum
Douglas, WY; Old West Museum, Cheyenne, WY