Andrea is an artist who lives outside of Pella, Iowa. She does commissioned work for patrons as well as her own works of art. During her 38 year career as an art educator, her paintings demonstrated a wide range of media and techniques. She participated in many workshops, then shared those new found skills with her students. She believed art history was an important aspect of art education and as she taught different artist techniques with her students, she fell in love with the work of Georgia O’Keefe and Helen Frankenthaler. She also became interested in architectural forms and how light and shadow played a crucial role in the composition like the work of Winslow Homer.
Andrea is working on a body of work depicting scenes from her travels as she continues to study and photograph the architecture, nature and culture wherever she goes. Andrea served as a teacher leader for a student ambassador organization which allowed her to travel with students to France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, and New Zealand where she was captivated with the art and architecture of all these cultures.
The daughter of a Reformed Church minister, Andrea was influenced by urban culture on the East Coast as she grew up but appreciated the organic roots of her ancestors in the midwest, learning the art of craftsmanship from her mother who loved gardening and quilting. After moving with her family from the Catskills to Pella, Iowa in 1976 and marrying a farmer in 1981, she found herself painting her surroundings, farm scenes and Pella’s historical Dutch architecture.
Andrea (Busker) Van Wyk was an Art Educator at Pella Community Schools from 1984 after graduating from Central College in Pella, Iowa until May of 2022, where she taught eight different exploratory art classes at the middle school and Art Appreciation at the high school for Des Moines Area Community College. She taught the Methods of Teaching Elementary Art and Secondary Art Education at Central College from 1999 until 2021. Andrea has also taught Art at Pella Christian and Pella Community High School as well as summer classes at the Pella Community Art Center and for Upward Bound at Central College.
For most of her career, Andrea was a member of the National Art Education Association and the Art Educators of Iowa. She was involved with New Art Basics, a research project through the Department of Art and Design at Iowa State University where she earned her Masters in Art Education in 1997. She earned the status of Signature Member of the Iowa Watercolor Society and is currently a member of the Des Moines Paint Pushers group.
Andrea and her husband, Mike, live on a farm east of Pella. Mike continues to farm, coach for Pella High, and is a Farm Bureau Financial Services Agent. They have two children, Sarah Flaherty (married to Dan) with four grandchildren, Anneke, Quinn, Graham, and Rowan, and a son Ross (married to Madelyn) Van Wyk. Andrea’s future plans are to spend as much time as possible with her family and to paint every day.