Opening Reception September 18th - 5 - 7 pm Reception Sponsors Barb's Soup's On Café Charlie's Café Classic Café Gino's Pizzeria & Ristorante Light's Bake Shop Hill Top Inn Horigan's Tavern Mandell's Restaurant Sweet-N-Saucy Vincenzo's Pizzeria Alaska Gallery Hours September 19 - October 10, 2009 Saturdays, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Additional Event Information Click Here

The Reception

Community Arts of Elmira is proud to present Alaska, a solo show by area artist Ron Dixon. Alaska features twenty new paintings inspired by the artist’s recent travels, as Dixon explains in his artist statement:

I had the privilege of spending two weeks in the deep wilderness of Alaska in September of 2008. I shared this adventure with a small group of close friends that only furthered to enhance the experience. Words and photographs simply did not convey the enormity of what I witnessed in that region of our country, so I set about painting one year ago in order to share, not so much what there was to see, but how it felt.

As a painter I would describe myself as a simple realist. The French painter Courbet once said, “I do not paint angels because I have never seen one." I share this philosophy in that I try to convey the reality and accuracy of my experiences as carefully as possible. I use photography as a reminder, but pride myself on working free hand so that something of me comes through in the work. I have always enjoyed wilderness themes, whether it is a vast landscape, or a person experiencing the unexplored as a small temporary figure within a larger world. Subsequently, my paintings take on a somber natural tone devoid of the trappings of modern life. I hold in high esteem turn-of-the-century painters Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent.

If when viewing this exhibition you feel that you can smell the pines, touch the cool water or hear the wind, I will consider it a success.

Ron Dixon

Currently a retired area arts educator, Ron Dixon was responsible for the production of instructional materials and implementation of curriculum for studio courses in photography, printmaking, art history, drawing and painting, and stage design, grades K-6 Corning; Grades 9-12; Waverly; and Adult Education Classes at the Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY. A painter and photographer, Dixon has held numerous regional and solo shows in a variety of venues, including the Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY; 171 Cedar Gallery, Corning, NY; Atrium Gallery, Corning, NY; Brown Library, Williamsport, PA; Community Arts of Elmira, Inc., Elmira, NY; and the Gmeiner Gallery, Wellsboro, PA. His professional awards include: Best in Show Photography: Regional Exhibit, Elmira 1980; Award for Painting: Arnot Museum Regional 1988; Best in Show for Drawing: NYS Art Teachers Convention 1989; NYS Art Teacher of the Year, Section 4, 1989; National Award Scholastics: 1991, 1999; Best in Show Photography: Gmeiner Regional 2005; and the Award for Photography: Gmeiner Regional 2008.

Artwork sold benefits the Food Bank of the Southern Tier www.foodbankst.org and Community Arts of Elmira.