The core group of original members was extended to include Fred Harman of Albuquerque, who was not only a Western painter, but also well known as the creator of the popular Red Ryder syndicated comic strip. Word spread quickly of the new upstart organization, and informal applications for membership began to come in from all over the West and even from places as unlikely as Connecticut. The attraction in the beginning was not related to any tangible prospect of prosperity, but had more to do with common interests and experiences and that old coyote kind of craving for camaraderie. No one could have foreseen the bright future that lay ahead for this hybrid mix of men living out their dreams of cowboys and Indians in both their lives and their art. But the Cowboy Artists seemed blessed from the beginning by the coincidental circumstances of good fortune.

In June 1965, just three days after Dye, Hampton, Beeler, and Phippen had founded the Cowboy Artists of America in the Sedona saloon, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame was formally dedicated at opening ceremonies in Oklahoma City. Joe Beeler had already had in his pocket an invitation to present the new museum's first one-man exhibition of contemporary Western art in September. The Beeler show was a success and gave Joe the opportunity to promote the idea of a Cowboy Artists exhibition to Dean Krakel, who ran the new museum, and to Jim Boren, who served as its art director. The symbiotic relationship that developed between the Cowboy Artists of America and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame was critical to both fledgling organizations. Together, they would be responsible for a Western art renaissance that would surpass the earlier impact of even Remington and Russell.

The first annual exhibition of the Cowboy Artists of America opened at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame on September 9, 1966. George Phippen had died that spring, but his work was included in the show, as well as that of the other original members: Joe Beeler, Charlie Dye, John Hampton, and Fred Harman. New Cowboy Artists members also exhibiting were: Darol Dickinson, Wayne Hunt, Harvey Johnson, John Kittelson, George Marks, "Shorty" Shope, Gordon Snidow, Grant Speed, and Byron Wolfe.

It was an unusual and extraordinary assortment of artists, with geographical representation from both sides of the Mississippi and pedigrees that ranged from bona fide cowboy credentials to careers back East in commercial illustration. The whole of it proved greater than the individual parts, and the unifying force was a common concern and commitment to art and the West.