A native of Quincy, Florida, Dean Mitchell received his formal training at Columbus College of Art and Design and subsequently worked as a leading designer for Hallmark Cards, Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri.

In 1983, Mitchell left the commercial field to pursue the muse of realist painting in both rural and urban America. His prodigious talent was quickly recognized with membership in the American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Miniature Artists of America, Allied Artists of America, The National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic, Knickerbocker Artists, and the Santa Fe Watercolor Society, of which he was President in 1993.

In 1992, Mitchell was one of five finalists in the $250,000 Hubbard Award for Excellence, Ruidoso, New Mexico; and received the $50,000 Grand Prize for the Arts in the Parks competition in 1999. In 1995 the U.S. Postal Service commissioned Mitchell to do a series of Jazz stamps.

Today, Mitchell’s paintings may be found in the permanent collections of the St. Louis Art Museum, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Hubbard Museum, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Mississippi Art Museum, Arkansas Art Center and others.