Los críticos consideran a Mackey como uno de los mejores artistas del estado de Colorado.
Mackey es uno de los pocos artistas en los Estados Unidos que ha sido seleccionado como miembro exclusivo de Oil Painters of America, y también ha aparecido en la revista Art Revue, The Artist's Magazine, Southwest Art magazine y Western Horseman. como la revista Cowboys and Indians. El Denver Post lo ha llamado "un maestro de [su] género", y Southwest Art lo ha reconocido como un artista tradicional de vaqueros en el mejor sentido de la palabra. Fuente askart.com
Kim Mackey grew up in Pueblo, Colorado. He attended public schools and, through his interest and ability in art, won a scholarship to attend the Colorado Institute of Art in Denver. Following art school, Mackey worked for several years as an illustrator, completing assignments for such clients as True West magazine, Western Horseman, and Capitol Records.
Special studies at Colorado State University qualified him as one of only a few certified police artists in the state, but recognition from his peers and collectors led him away from commercial work and illustration into full time fine art painting. Mackey also coaches students; he is a popular teacher, conducting workshops and classes throughout the region. He has been a faculty instructor at the Art Students League of Denver, and has taught at the Colorado Institute of Art. Critics consider Mackey to be one of the best artists in the state of Colorado.
Mackey is one of only a few artists in the United States to be selected as a signature member of the Oil Painters of America, and has been featured in Art Revue magazine, The Artist’s Magazine, Southwest Art magazine, and Western Horseman magazine, as well as Cowboys and Indians magazine. The Denver Post has called him “a master of [his] genre,” and Southwest Art has acknowledged him as a traditional cowboy artist in the finest sense of the word.