B.C. Nowlin, raised near Sandia Pueblo Reservation in Alameda, New Mexico, integrated Hispanic and Native Puebloan influences early on. Despite expulsion from high school art class for unconventional subjects, his work was acquired by a museum in Sasebo, Japan, at 17. Nowlin's career as a self-taught artist has been defined by travel, diverse experimentation, and a notable entry into the "New West" movement in the early 1980s. Since 1986, he has engaged with the Lakota Sioux culture, advocating beyond reservation boundaries.

Nowlin's art, celebrated for mythical realism, explores universal themes through diverse cultural influences, exhibited globally and collected by prominent institutions and individuals, including Hollywood figures. Recent works explore themes from post-industrial chaos to imagined human habitats, while he also mentors students and supports charitable causes through summer mentorship programs and artwork donations.