About the Artist

Known in the art world as Mac Schweitzer, this artist was born Mary Alice Cox in 1921. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, where she drew countless pictures of horses. She was fascinated by the West and when the rodeo was in town, she would spent time at the arena, conversing with the participants and sketching. She attended the Cleveland School of Art ( now Cleveland Institute of Art) on scholarship, but quit school in 1943 to marry Jack Schweitzer, who had enlisted in the Army. While he was overseas, Mac lived in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was discharged in 1946 and they moved to Wyoming, then on to Tucson the following year. Schweitzer was enchanted by the unusual plants and terrain of the desert Southwest, remarking that she had "never painted anything worthwhile" prior to moving to Tucson. She lived there until 1958, experimenting with a variety of media and styles.