James "Jim" Daniel Dean was born in Fall River, Massachusetts on October 14th, 1931. As a child, he recognized his artistic skills and studied at the Swain School of Design, now part of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1950, graduating in 1956.
In 1962, he was the Art Director of the NASA Art Program under NASA Administrator James Webb. During his time as director, he worked Hereward Lester Cooke to select and commission 50 artists to the NASA program. The NASA Art Program and his efforts influenced and helped shape the Reclamation Art Program in 1969.
In October of 1970, he and several other artists visited Grand Coulee Dam in Washington to create studies and draw inspiration for artwork from the Reclamation site. He worked in watercolor medium painting realistic landscapes of his subjects. Five of his works are still in the Reclamation Art Collection today and each shows the detailed eye and delicate hand of Jim Dean. In the artist image on the page, he is sitting in the foreground painting near a large boulder and among many small yellow flowers. This boulder and flowers are recognized in his piece, Grand Coulee Flowers.
Jim Dean passed away on March 22, 2024 in Washington D.C.