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CASPER, Wyo. –– Roughly 160 works of art of various sizes leaned up against the walls at the Nicolaysen Art Museum’s vast gallery space last week.

Casper artist Zachary Pullen paced through the space after spending hours the previous day arranging and rearranging the pieces with museum curator Amanda Yonker, who was tasked with finding order in the dozens of works brought in from private collections, businesses and other galleries for the upcoming show.

Nicolaysen Art Museum curator Amanda Yonker cleans some of the frames before hanging the Zachary Pullen show recently. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

“The [order] has been moved about seven times so far, just figuring out how to separate it,” said Yonker. “I mean, he’s so prolific in his work.” The artworks include illustrations for books, as well as representations from famous movies, athletes, events such as the solar eclipse, local personalities and some pointed political commentary, among many other themes. “We set the political wall over there, because it’s important to keep all that together,” she said. “It makes the most sense.”

The title for Pullen’s upcoming show, “Late Nights and Long Summers: Artwork of Zachary Pullen,” gives a hint of how the in-demand artist pulls off that productivity. “It’s what I try to do every year,” he said. “I work really hard from around October to May, and then try to take summers off and spread them out as much as I can.” He admitted that being holed up in his central Casper studio during this unusually warm winter made that a bit more challenging. “It was tough to work and look outside and realize, ‘Oh, it’s 63 degrees,’” he said.

The show covers the past 11 years of Pullen’s career, starting off from where his first large NIC show ended. That one covered the early stages of his career starting off in New York City before moving back home to Casper, while this period was all created here. “I still work with clients from all over the place, but I also do a lot here now, which is really fun,” he said.

The show, likely the largest Pullen has done, started coming together last year, and was initially planned to be a bit smaller. “They were like, ‘Eleven years, you couldn’t have done that much,’” he said. “Then we started talking about the volume of work and it ended up being this, which is really cool.”

A commissioned piece shows, clockwise from bottom, former Wyoming Govs. Dave Freudenthal, Mike Sullivan and Matt Mead as well as current Gov. Mark Gordon fly-fishing together. The four gathered at the same time to model for the piece, Pullen said. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

The work encompasses commissioned and personal projects, including a series of imagined scenes from some of his favorite movies, ranging from slapstick comedies like “Dumb and Dumber” to cinematic masterpieces such as “All The President’s Men” and “Godfather II.”

“I started with ‘Happy Gilmore’ and ‘Caddyshack,’ and now it’s expanded,” he said. “The latest one I finished is ‘The Goonies.’”

“That’s the thing with this series, because it could go on and on,” he continued. “I sit down and try to think of my top 10 favorites, and I can’t do it. As soon as you think of one, it makes you think of another.”

His obsession with golf and the sport’s generations of players gets its own vast section on the walls. Many of the small portraits he’s completed were being carefully laid out on tables like a colorful and expressive puzzle before being placed on the walls.

“The golfers are going to be floor to ceiling,” Yonker said. How exactly they’re arranged is pretty much done by feel, experience and emotion. “When it looks good, I just know,” she said.

When Pullen completes a commissioned work, it often vanishes into homes and private collections. Getting them all together in Casper has been a significant part of the challenge. Every work is digitally captured and kept on file at Pullen’s studio. He created a spreadsheet with the selected works for this show, and then went about finding the pieces. A couple of pieces are expected to arrive from Texas shortly before the show opens this weekend.

Artist Zachary Pullen talks with curator Amanda Yonker while preparing his show at the Nicolaysen Art Museum recently. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

“It’s a little stressful waiting for the last ones to arrive,” said Yonker. “Even just getting these down here [from his studio] was stressful. I just made trip after trip in my car.”

Then there’s the massive mural he’s currently working on for Casper’s first Cheba Hut sub shop, which will require multiple hands and some maneuvering to transport from his studio to its permanent home. It’s the first time in the company’s history that it has allowed a franchisee to go outside its usual roster of artists in favor of a local creator, Pullen said.

The finished mural, which depicts Wyoming people, symbols and creatures in a whimsical stoner setting, will be unveiled at the restaurant’s grand opening this summer. For this show, a wall has been dedicated to display sketches and notes leading up to the final mural’s design.

A busy artist like Pullen doesn’t have time to look back at his work too often. Gathering 11 years of work can bring mixed emotions when he lays eyes on them again.

“So much of my stuff is on deadline, and I’m only given a certain amount of time so I can’t endlessly tweak something; it just has to get out the door,” he said. “I’ll see it and go, ‘Oh, I could’ve done this or that’ all the time, but there are certain things that come back and I think, ‘Oh man, that’s way better than I thought.’”

“Late Nights and Long Summers: Artwork of Zachary Pullen” will have its opening reception on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the Nicolaysen Art Museum, located at 400 E. Collins Drive starting at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $10 per person and $20 for families. Members of the NIC get in free.

The reception features talks with the artist, live music by John May and refreshments. The show is presented with help from True Legacy and Jonah Bank of Wyoming, with general support provided by Wold Foundation, Natrona County Collective Health Trust, Wyoming Arts Council and Wyoming Community Foundation.

Zachary Pullen looks over part of his series of golf portraits while arranging work for his exhibit at the NIC. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

A collection of political commentary will be hung together on a movable wall. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

Artist Zachary Pullen looks across the room with Nicolaysen Art Museum curator Amanda Yonker and executive director Allison Maluchnik during preparation for his show recently. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

Part of an ongoing series of movie favorites is seen lined up before hanging. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

A painting Zachary Pullen made for the 2017 Solar Eclipse Festival is seen at left as he talks with curator Amanda Yonker and director Allison Maluchnik during preparation for his upcoming show at the Nicolaysen Art Museum. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

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