Original works of art

The sculptor, Joy Kroeger Beckner, attended the Washington University School of Fine Arts in Saint Louis, Missouri for two years, but spent her early years in the fashion industry and later as a fund raiser. Attending a sculpture class in 1990, her interest in art was re-kindled, and she returned to modeling from life, becoming a full-time artist in 1995.

Beckner achieved immediate success with her bronzes of Dachshunds, first with "Dreaming of Tomatoes," a study of her husband's twelve year old Dachshund, "Anna von Pumpernickeland." . In1997, she received a purchase prize at The Art Show at the Dog Show, in Witchita, Kansas, for her second bronze, entitled, "A Good Life." Beckner continues to create bronze sculptures of dogs in limited editions and her work may be found in a variety of galleries across the country, including The William Secord Gallery, Inc. in New York City. She is represented in The American Kennel Club Museum of The Dog with A Good Life, a portrait of a Dachshund on its back. The bronze was done in a large, almost life size version, and a smaller version, both limited editions.