Before a single frame rolls at the Go West Film Fest, the festival has already shown you its first work of art. It is on the program in your hand, on the collectible poster on the merch table, on the wall of more living rooms in Greeley than we can count. For nearly a decade, that first impression has come from one brush: Colorado artist Cody Kuehl, who donates an original painting to the festival every year and then shows up in person to talk westerns with the people who love them. It is long past time we properly introduced him.
The Festival Artist at a Glance
Who: Cody Kuehl — Northern Colorado-born painter of "New Western" art and a board member of the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art
Role: Go West Film Festival poster artist since the festival's early years — his artwork appeared in our program as far back as 2017
Recent festival paintings: Moondog (2024) and Outrun the End of the World (2025)
Get the poster: Frameable prints are available at the festival for a donation of $50 or more — all proceeds benefit the festival
See more: artofcodykuehl.com
Meet the Man Behind the Posters
Cody Kuehl is a Northern Colorado story from the first brushstroke. Born and raised here, self-taught, he started out painting small pop-surreal pieces in college before deciding to build a life around the thing he could not stop doing. Today his work hangs in galleries across the state, he has been featured in Denver's Westword and shown with the Coors Western Art exhibition's "Young Guns," and he serves on the board of the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art in Trinidad, where his own gallery, Kuehl Fine Art, keeps the lights on for the next generation of western artists. He lives in Longmont with his two daughters and their two dogs.
Which is all to say: when the festival needed an artist who understood both the old West and the new one, we did not have to look far.
What Is "New Western" Art?
Cody calls his style New Western, and the name fits the way our festival's name fits us. His paintings put detailed, graphic subjects — a cowboy mid-gallop, a longhorn, a standoff — over loose, abstract underlays of color, so the image reads as both a classic western scene and something unmistakably contemporary. Watch him walk a festival crowd through the layers, the way he did at our 2025 meet-and-greet, and you see the idea up close: the myth on top, the wildness underneath.
That balance of reverence and reinvention is exactly what we program every November. We call ourselves a genre-defying western film fest that refuses to be corralled; Cody paints the same way. It is why his art does not just decorate the festival — it explains it, before the house lights ever go down.
A Poster Tradition Nearly as Old as the Festival
Flip through our program archive and Cody's hand is there almost from the start — the 2017 program already credited its artwork to "Denver-based illustrator Cody Kuehl." Every year since, he has donated an original painting to serve as the face of the festival: recent years gave us Moondog in 2024 and Outrun the End of the World in 2025, each becoming that year's program cover and collectible poster.
And every year, he shows up. Cody attends the festival to meet fans, talk through his process, and offer original works — at the 2025 festival that meant a silent auction, an artist meet-and-greet, and a drawing for a custom-fit hat from Greeley Hat Works. Frameable prints of the festival poster go for a donation of $50 or more, with every dollar keeping the festival free. The posters have become collector's items in their own right; longtime attendees measure their festival years in Kuehls on the wall.
If you have wondered why a free, volunteer-run film festival has poster art this good: it is because a working artist gives it to us, year after year, because he believes in what happens in that theater. Support like that deserves the spotlight — and we're pleased to shine it his way.
Where to See (and Take Home) His Work
The easiest place is the festival itself, November 9–14, 2026, where Cody's table is a destination between screenings. The rest of the year, browse originals, prints, and his archive at artofcodykuehl.com, visit Kuehl Fine Art at the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art in Trinidad, or find him on Instagram. And if you own a past festival poster, hold onto it — the set only grows more special as the tradition does.
The 2026 festival painting gets its reveal as the festival draws closer — watch this blog and our social channels this fall. Until then, the marquee is waiting and so is the artist's easel.
Keep the Festival (and the Posters) Free — Donate
Frequently Asked Questions
Who creates the Go West Film Festival posters?
Colorado artist Cody Kuehl has created the festival's program and poster art since the festival's early years — his work appears in our program archive as far back as 2017. He donates an original painting each year.
What is New Western art?
New Western is Cody Kuehl's style of painting: detailed, graphic western subjects layered over loose, abstract underlays of color, so a classic western image reads as unmistakably contemporary.
How can I acquire the festival poster?
Frameable prints of each year's festival poster are available at the festival for a donation of $50 or more, with all proceeds benefiting the Go West Film Festival. Cody's original works are also on hand at his table each year.
Where else can I see Cody Kuehl's work?
At artofcodykuehl.com, at Kuehl Fine Art inside the A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art in Trinidad, Colorado — where he serves on the board — and in galleries across Colorado.
When will the 2026 festival poster be revealed?
This fall, ahead of the twelfth annual Go West Film Festival, November 9–14, 2026, in downtown Greeley. The reveal will appear on this blog and the festival's social channels.
Twelve festivals, one artist, and a wall of posters that tells the whole story. Come meet him in November — we will save you a spot at his table.