Hector Acuna (b. 1993) is a professional artist and educator living in Grafton, Wisconsin. He studied at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2015 before completing his Master of Fine Arts from Michigan State University in 2020. Hector has taught classes in drawing, painting, sculpture, and color/design for private lessons, group workshops, and at the university level. He's been an invited juror and awards judge for regional exhibitions and currently serves as a volunteer committee member in the Cedarburg Artists Guild.Hector has had small group and solo exhibitions at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Scarabocchio Art Museum, Saugatuck Center for the Arts, and Noel Fine Arts Center. His work has also been juried into exhibitions at the Wisconsin Museum of Art, Site:Brooklyn Gallery, Trout Museum of Art, Baton Rouge Gallery, South Haven Center for the Arts, and Wheaton College. Hector has received various awards and grants including the Hipstamatic Entrepreneurship Award. His work has been commissioned by musicians including album artwork for Milwaukee artists Emmitt James and the group Soul Low. Hector's paintings are held in public and private collections throughout the United States and have received over twenty five awards since his first plein air competition in 2021. Recent awards include First Place at the 2024 Lighthouse Plein Air Festival, Best of Show at the 2022 Door County Plein Air Festival, Best New Artist at the 2023 Bath County Plein Air Festival, and 2nd Place at the 2023 Plein Air Texas event. At the 2023 Plein Air Convention & Expo, he was named the M. Stephen Doherty Breakthrough Artist of the Year. Plein Air Magazine published an article titled "Age of Exploration" on Hector’s work in their 2023 Oct/Nov issue. At PACE24, he will be one of eighty invited faculty plein air artists teaching at the convention in Cherokee, NC. Hector is currently one of twelve juried artists for the 2024 Artservancy residency through Gallery 224 in Port Washington, WI.