Collection: Dustin Van Wechel

Dustin Van Wechel 

In February 2002, Dustin Van Wechel left a successful eight-year career in advertising to pursue his lifelong passion for fine art full-time. Since then, he has earned numerous distinctions, including the People’s Choice Award at the 2018 Buffalo Bill Show, the Bob Kuhn Award for Wildlife at the Masters of the American West Show in 2015 and 2022, the 2015 Premier Platinum Award at the Buffalo Bill Show, and both the Wildlife Award and Teton Lodge Company Award at the 2006 Arts for the Parks competition. His work has also been featured in leading art publications such as Art of the West, Western Art Collector, Southwest Art, Fine Art Connoisseur, The Artist’s Magazine, Pastel Journal, and Drawing Magazine.

Van Wechel’s work has been exhibited widely across the United States in solo shows, major exhibitions, and museums, including the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Autry Museum of the American West, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, the Booth Museum, the Briscoe Western Art Museum, and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Reflecting on his work, Van Wechel has said, “Painting wildlife provides a well of opportunity to communicate not only my personal experiences and perceptions of my subjects but also provides a window into understanding what moves me as an artist and who I am as a person. I choose to paint wildlife because this is what gets me most excited about painting. I find inspiration everywhere, but it’s in wildlife and landscapes where I am most driven to paint.”

Van Wechel’s work is represented by Settlers West Galleries and Broadmoor Galleries in Colorado Springs, Colorado.