Collection: Phil Epp

Phil Epp is a distinguished American artist celebrated for his vivid and minimalist interpretations of the Great Plains. Raised on a rural crop and cattle farm in Nebraska, he later settled in Kansas, where the region’s expansive skies and open prairies became the defining subjects of his work. Epp studied art at Bethel College in Newton, Kansas, and spent more than thirty years teaching in the Newton public schools while maintaining a dedicated studio practice. His paintings—characterized by bold skies, low horizons, and emblematic Western imagery such as wild horses, windswept prairies, and dramatic cloud formations—have earned him a national following.

Epp received the Kansas Governor’s Art Award in 1985 and retired from teaching in 2003 to pursue his art full-time. His Blue Sky Sculpture in Newton was named one of the “Eight Wonders of Kansas Art” by the Kansas Sampler Foundation. In 2016, he was inducted into the Cowboy Artists of America, recognizing his significant contributions to Western and regional art.

His work has been featured in exhibitions across the United States and is represented in both private and public collections worldwide. As part of the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies program, Epp served as a cultural ambassador to Kazakhstan in 2009, with additional installations in American embassies in Latvia, Africa, and Fiji. He received Best of Show at the 2010 Panhandle Plains Invitational in Canyon, Texas.

Epp’s large-scale murals and sculptures are found throughout Kansas and the American Southwest, including installations at the Kauffman Foundation, the Taos Art Museum, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, the Spencer Museum of Art, the Kansas State Historical Museum, the Briscoe Western Art Museum, and the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art. In 2013, he completed three major murals for Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs.

He continues to travel, photograph, and paint the wide-open skies and Western landscapes that have shaped his artistic vision.

*Denotes new artist for 2026