Born in 1928 into a farming family in rural Edmore North Dakota, Frank Sampson started drawing as a young boy. He went on to study art in college, stayed in Europe, and then landed in Boulder in 1961, where he taught painting and drawing at CU Boulder for almost three decades. He retired in 1990 and still paints nearly every day in his studio. He focuses on magical realism, primarily through depictions of both creatures and people. Many of his paintings hold smokey atmospheres or landscapes, transporting us to the fantastical places he has created. Sampson has earned the reputation as one of the most esteemed artists in our state, and his work has been shown in multiple art galleries around the country.