Joe Ferrara was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1931. He was a painter of
traditional Southwest images, and wildlife renditions and was also a sculptor and commercial artist.

Ferrara earned his BFA from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He worked for several years as an illustrator with firms and agencies in New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut. He lived In Hamden, Connecticut where he established his first studio in 1962. For several years he operated a complete commercial art service.

He is best known for his Winchester Calendar series that he started in 1967. These calendars have become collectors items and now have a circulation of over 400,000. He also designed engravings for guns and medallions. In 1980 he designed the art for the Winchester John Wayne Commemorative Rifle packaging sleeve that was commissioned by Winchester Firearms Company.

The original work for this packaging sleeve was a Ferrara oil on canvas, 41" X 20" with a large portrait of John Wayne surrounded by eight scenes from various John Wayne movies. The original was reproduced for the box sleeve, as a sales poster and the large portrait portion was the cover of the 1982 Winchester catalog with a photo of the John Wayne Commemorative Rifle superimposed over it.

Larry Hacker writes: "I was the advertising manager for Winchester's largest Distributing Company. We were awarded the National Sales Award for 1982, and my boss was given the original painting. The painting and the sales awards are now in my office."

Sources include:
Gary Stanley, ArtSan Diego
Larry Hacker, Message to AskART, December 2004
Peggy and Harold Samuels, "Contemporary Western Artists"