Shane Van Pelt

Van Pelt has produced hundreds of paintings and drawings. He’s a vintage motorcycle collector, boxer, outdoor enthusiast, writer, and survivor of two heart attacks. He had his first one at 29. His last one was in 2014. It’s ironic that Van Pelt has become a hero of the outsider art movement. Even today, after many years in the game, he’s not comfortable with the label. The first time Van Pelt approached art seriously was as a high school student in Yakima, Washington looking to earn a scholarship to the Art Institute of Seattle. A 10th-grade teacher had encouraged Van Pelt to focus on his drawing and apply to the Art Institute. For a kid who had seen a lot of uncertainty already in his life, this was the kind of direction he was looking for. The first time he picked up a pencil with any purpose, it was in pursuit of a formal art education.