In Memoriam

Woven within the tragedies of war and natural disasters which are affecting thousands, are the stories of individuals who face private turmoil and illness. NIADA has lost yet another amazingly talented artist due to illness. Dustin Poché passed away on February 28th, 2023 following a three-year struggle with pancreatic cancer.

I first met Dustin in 2014, the first time he came to a NIADA conference. I was sitting on a bench waiting for our business meeting, and he came and sat next to me. He had signed up to have some of his work critiqued, and he was so nervous. He stayed by my side throughout most of the 3-day conference, enough so that people were asking how long we had been friends!

He was invited to dinner that night by a few of the artists and I stayed back and joined his partner Matt in the bar. I hadn’t laughed that much in a long time. The three of us became life-long friends that day. Dustin’s work impressed everyone. He could do anything – from sweet faced Victorian ladies – to historical figures – to caricatures – and of course his Halloween witches, vampires and spirits.

But more importantly, we loved Dustin. I loved Dustin. His zest for life, his laughter, his sense of humor and his ability to pull you into his orbit as if you belonged there. A year ago, I was at his Birthday Extravaganza. He knew what he was facing, and we had a long talk the night I arrived. He seemed as optimistic as possible, but I think the gathering of his friends was intentional. He didn’t know how much longer he had.

His art, as well as his life, was multi-faceted. Looking through his body of work, you see the different sides of Dustin that were illuminated. They all came out in his art. Nothing he ever did was done half-way. Not even his short life. We will miss you, my friend. ~ Cindee Moyer, NIADA President