Biography

Artist Member since 2024

Rachel Brownlee is an acclaimed Nebraskan Western fine artist and software innovator whose work bridges High Plains heritage, technological leadership, and fine charcoal realism. Raised on Pine Creek Ranch in Sheridan County, Nebraska, her deep understanding of Western life was forged through years of firsthand labor’calving, branding, driving tractors, and handling cattle in all weather conditions. She is also the great-great-niece of famed Sandhills author Mari Sandoz. Just as Sandoz documented the grit and truth of the Sandhills through literature, Brownlee draws directly from her intimate knowledge of ranch culture to capture raw, unscripted moments of Great Plains life on large-scale charcoal panels.

While attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) from 2011 to 2015, Brownlee established herself as a top collegiate innovator and entrepreneur. Graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Innovation, she created MooManager in 2012’a specialized livestock management software suite designed to automate cattle records, ancestry tracking, and inventory management for ranchers. Her academic achievements earned prominent state and national accolades, including winning the 2013 Maverick Business Plan Competition, the 2014 BigIdea! Elevator Pitch Competition, second place at the 2014 CEO National Pitch Competition, and the prestigious 2015 Peter Kiewit Student Entrepreneurial Award, which was formally commended by the Nebraska Legislature in Legislative Resolution 354.

Turning her primary focus to fine art, Brownlee achieved rapid national prominence for her hyper-realistic charcoal drawings, surpassing $1.2 million in total art sales over five years. Her artwork has earned top honors across the Western art circuit, including Best of Show at the Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Western Art Show (2021, 2024), Best of Show at Cowgirl Up! for Mere Breath (2023), Best of Show at Coeur d’Alene Gallery’s Miniatures by the Lake (2025), and the Award of Excellence at Medicine Man Gallery’s Masters of Drawing (2025). Most recently, she received the 2026 Western Horizons Patron’s Choice Award for Trees of Life, earned third place in the 18th ARC Salon for Shade in the Desert, and was selected for an exhibition at Sotheby’s in New York City.

Today, Brownlee operates her primary fine art studio in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she creates monumental six-foot charcoal panels for national galleries, auctions, and museum collections. Outside of her studio work, she is an avid runner, plays the harp, and devotes much of her time to raising her two young children, Hedda and Leif.
Awards
2026 University of Nebraska-Young Alumni Achievement Award
2026 Western Horizons-Patron’s Choice for “Trees of Life”
2026 Art Renewal Center Salon-Third Place Animal Category for “Shade in the Desert”
2025 Coeur d’Alene Gallery Miniatures by the Lake- Best of Show
2025 Cowgirl Up! -Second Place People’s Choice
2025 Medicine Man Gallery Masters of Drawing – Award of Excellence
2024 Mountain Oyster Club – Best of Show
2024 Mountain Oyster Club Inductee Honorary Artist Member
2024 Southwest Art Magazine “21 Under 31” Selectee
2023 Museum of Western Art 40th Annual Roundup Exhibition and Art Show – Patron’s Award
2023 Mountain Oyster Club Museum Purchase Award
2023 15th Annual Strokes of Genius – Finalist
2023 15th Annual Strokes of Genius – Finalist
2023 Carnegie Arts Center Anniversary Show – First Place Dry Media Category
2023 Cowgirl Up! – Best of Show
2022 12th Annual Artistic Excellence Southwest Art – Honorable Mention
2021 Mountain Oyster Club Art Sale – Best of Show

Exhibitions
InSight Gallery Abigail Gutting and Rachel Brownlee Show, October 2, Fredericksburg, TX
Small Works Great Wonders, National Cowboy Museum, Oklahoma City, OK
Mountain Oyster Club Art Show and Sale, Tucson, AZ
Legacy Gallery Holiday Small Works Show, Scottsdale, AZ
Forever West, Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ March 2027
Prix de West, National Cowboy Museum, Oklahoma City, OK 2027
Rachel Brownlee Solo Show, Legacy Gallery, Santa Fe, NM August 2027