Grand Coulee Flowers, 1969
In October of 1970,
James "Jim " Dean 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.
Jim was the director of the NASA Art Program in 1962, working with another future Reclamation artist, Hereward Lester Cooke, to select and commission artists for the NASA program. Jim Dean and the NASA Art Program influenced the creation of the Reclamation Art Program that began in 1969.