Don B. Huntley Collection of Western Art
Don B. Huntley Collection of Western Art
Over the decades, Don B. Huntley has generously given to his beloved alma mater. He has supported research programs, provided scholarships for students, made major financial donations to colleges throughout the Cal Poly Pomona campus, donated pieces from his beloved Western Art Collection, and funded the development of the Don B. Huntley Gallery located on the 4th floor of the University Library.
One of Don B. Huntley‘s major passions include his Collection of Art of the West that he shares with the university and Cal Poly community. Starting in 2006, Huntley began lending artworks from his collection to the university for exhibition. Many of his artworks have since been on long-term loan. Over the years, Mr. Huntley has donated a number of his oil on canvas paintings that depict wildlife, landscapes and ‘buckaroo art’ to the University. These pieces, as well as his paintings on long-term loan to the campus, and antique items included in his estate, constitute the Huntley Western Art Collection. In 2018, Huntley donated a substantial number of the artworks --over 120 paintings, sculpture and objects-- in his collection to the University, through the College of Environmental Design, of which the Kellogg and Huntley University Art Galleries are a part of. Wellknown artists in the Don B. Huntley Collection include Bill Anton, Bruce Cheever, David Jonason, Edward David Kucera, Bonnie Marris, Ralph Oberg, Mian Situ, and Dustin Van Wechel. Objects include Navajo baskets, rugs and cowhand tools like a leather saddle, boots with spurs, chaps and a branding iron.
Over the years, varied selections of paintings and sculpture from the Huntley Collection have been curated with themes of such as Creatures of the Wild West, Living Life in the West, and Windows to the West highlighting the gorgeous selection of landscapes and mountain views, and wildlife paintings. Many of the paintings in the collection also reflect the points of view of the people of the west —from the cowhand, to the native, from the immigrant worker to the female present in the western landscape. Of the depictions of animals selected, most reflect the animals that live, traverse, subsist and survive in what we call the wild, wild, west. Each of the subjects represented within the collection —whether ranch hand, native, elk, buffalo, mountain or valley— represent the necessary components holding the delicate balance of relationships between each, and the vast, diverse and rugged landscape.
Huntley grew up in the San Gabriel Valley when Los Angeles County was still a thriving agricultural center. From an early age, he was enamored with rural America and the romance of the Old West. “I just think the West to me is more beautiful,” says Huntley,“…there are scenic parts of the West that are found nowhere else in the world.” This love of the West, nature, wildlife and the picturesque landscape are very influential on his aesthetic and collection practice.
The Don B. Huntley Gallery is a vibrant space that allows the College of Environmental Design to display unique works by artists from around the country, support departmental exhibition needs within the College, and highlight the University’s Permanent Collections, including the exquisite landscapes and scenes of ‘the Wild West’ in the Huntley Collection of Art of the West. “We are so grateful to Don Huntley for sharing his private collection with us, which adds to the culture and conversation of our campus,” says Michele Cairella-Fillmore, curator and director of the Huntley Gallery and W. Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery. “The Huntley Gallery is a vibrant space that allows us to display unique works by artists from around the country, and highlight the university’s collections, including the exquisite landscapes and scenes of ‘the Wild West’ in Mr. Huntley’s collection.”
David Jonason, Bosque Del Apache, 2009, oil on canvas, 31.5 x 34.5" (framed). The Don B. Huntley Western Art Collection. Donated in by Don B. Huntley to the College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona.
Michael Stack, Approaching Taos in Sun and Rain, n.d, oil on canvas, 24 x 40”. The Don B. Huntley Western Art Collection. Donated in by Don B. Huntley to the College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona.
Kyle Sims, The August Social, 2011, oil on canvas, 47.75 x 95.5 x 5” (framed). The Don B. Huntley Western Art Collection. Donated by Don B. Huntley to the College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona.
Lynn Wade, Team Work, n.d., oil on canvas, 30 x 40” (framed). The Don B. Huntley Western Art Collection. Donated by Don B. Huntley to the College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona.
Jim C. Norton, On The Summer Range, 1989, oil on canvas, 32 x 40” (framed). The Don B. Huntley Western Art Collection. Donated by Don B. Huntley to the College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona.
Curt Walters, Weathered Splendor, n.d., oil on canvas, 80 x 63” (framed). The Don B. Huntley Western Art Collection. Donated in by Don B. Huntley to the College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona.
More about the Donor
More about the donor, Don B. Huntley: Don Huntley grew up in the San Gabriel Valley during the 1940s and 50s.
At that time, Los Angeles County was still largely rural, and it was the leading agricultural-producing county in the country. Huntley became enraptured with the romance of the Old West and dreamed of owning his own cattle ranch one day.
He enrolled at Cal Poly Pomona and studied animal husbandry in pursuit of his dream. Huntley’s senior thesis focused on a blood disease in cattle called anaplasmosis. He graduated in 1960, a few years after the San Bernardino (10) Freeway was built and suburbia began to replacing farming in Los Angeles County. Huntley’s first started his career selling animal health products to cattlemen and farmers in the San Joaquin Valley for the American Cyanamid Company, which was later absorbed by Pfizer. After several years, the company wanted to send him to Louisiana, but Huntley decided to stay in the valley. He gave up his dream of owning a cattle ranch and instead acquired a real estate license.
Huntley began selling agricultural and hill-country land in valley. When California’s pistachio industry started to take off in the late 1970s and early ’80s, he did his research and entered the industry as a farmer, businessman and pistachio enthusiast. He believed that going into pistachios was a good investment: Huntley says, "It’s a tree that may not produce if you have a terrible drought, but it won’t die. It’s a hardy tree."
He eventually bought his own farm land and began growing pistachios and cherries. Huntley’s farming ventures soon blossomed and he was selling his pistachios to clients around the world. As Don B. Huntley, 2013, alumnus and donor of the Huntley Collection of Art of the West. Source: Cal Poly Pomona, Windows to the West exhibit. Kyle Sims, The August Social, 2011, oil on canvas, 47.75 x 95.5 x 5” (framed). The Don B. Huntley Western Art Collection. Donated by Don B. Huntley to the College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona. 12/9/20 about CPP art collections a businessman and investor, Huntley is meticulous when it comes to research; he reads up on the latest news and calls companies and universities to get more information before making investment decisions. He also wants to know how things work, why things work and peek over the horizon. This perspective motivated him to get interested in biotechnology. It was a new industry, and he notes there have been some unbelievable developments in medicine through the junior biotech companies in the United States and foreign countries. To him, it’s an exciting industry. He thinks biotechnology has made huge strides in saving lives. The whole industry of medicine has advanced tremendously in the last 20 years because of it.
At his peak, Huntley had 475 acres of pistachios and 140 of cherries. His pistachios were sold under the Huntley-Moore Farms label to clients in Russia, Hong Kong, China, Canada, Israel, and India. He also sold them to gourmet food retailer Williams-Sonoma, the Farm Store at Kellogg Ranch, and private corporate clients.
Throughout the years, Huntley has shared the fruits of his success with his beloved alma mater. He has contributed funding for research into growing disease-resistant and more nutritious lettuce that requires less water, sponsored student scholarships, and supported agricultural literacy efforts. His fascination with mining lead to his collection of rocks and gemstones, which has also led to the support and growth of the College of Science’s Gem Collection. Huntley also backed the creation of the 14-acre Huntley Vineyard on the Cal Poly Pomona campus. The College of Agriculture harvests the grapes to make Horsehill Vineyards wine, which is served at the Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch and sold at the Farm Store.
Huntley sees the students who graduate from Cal Poly Pomona are making an important impact in California, and wants to support them and provide new opportunities. He supports Cal Poly students and faculty in order so they continue making advancements in agriculture, biotechnology, science and other research. He has pledged to support the school for as long as he has the ability.
When he was not overseeing his farming operations, Huntley engaged in several passions — all of which he pursued with the same determination, appetite for knowledge and experimentation that has made him successful in business. As a true Renaissance man, Huntley has many interests, including mining, collecting gemstones, rocks, fine wine, and Western art. He once visited one of the largest gold mines in California, the Sixteen-to-One Mine in Alleghany which prompted his mineral collection stewardship.
When the sport of rock climbing was in its infancy, Huntley climbed at Joshua Tree National Park with nylon rope, carabiners and pitons. He has supported research programs, provided scholarships for students, donated pieces from his Western Art Collection, and funded the development of the Huntley Art Gallery at the University Library, and prospective future art storage facilities. He also has supported initiatives, projects, and scholarships in the colleges of science, engineering, Michael Stack, Approaching Taos in Sun and Rain, n.d, oil on canvas, 24 x 40”. The Don B. Huntley Western Art Collection. Donated in by Don B. Huntley to the College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona. 12/9/20 about CPP art collections environmental design, and education and integrative studies, including the Native American Pipeline and Pathways to Graduation program.
To recognize his professional success and philanthropic gifts, Huntley was named the College of Agriculture’s Distinguished Alumnus in 2004 and awarded an honorary doctorate from Cal Poly Pomona in 2009. He is also a member of the Founders’ Society, the university’s highest honor recognizing individuals and organizations for lifetime. Huntley joins the ranks of visionary philanthropists W.K. Kellogg, Charles Voorhis, and Jim and Carol Collins, each of whom made tremendous impacts and left a legacy of excellence for Cal Poly Pomona.
In 2016, he pledged his 475-acre pistachio farm in the San Joaquin Valley as an estate gift to the university, with farm revenues supporting research, scholarships and academic enrichment. In recognition of his generosity, the California State University Board of Trustees approved re-naming the College of Agriculture as the Don B. Huntley College of Agriculture. It is only the second named college at Cal Poly Pomona, following the Collins College of Hospitality Management, and the only one named for an alumnus. It is the second college in the 23-campus CSU system to be named, following the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at Fresno State. For his part, Huntley wants to see the university and its alumni gain greater recognition, particularly as a global leader in agriculture education.
Furthermore, Mr. Huntley has contributed to enrichment programs in several colleges, as well as the Native American Pipeline and Pathways to Graduation programs. The pipeline program, the first of its kind in the CSU, introduces college to Native American students beginning in junior high school, and helps to instill a mindset that achievement in higher education is possible. In its first decade, the program has reached more than 100 students and provides campus housing and scholarships for books and technology.
Sources:
- A Man For All Seasons, 2017 Exhibition Didactics