Maynard Dixon Country
Mount Carmel, UT
In 1939, painter Maynard Dixon and his third wife, Edith Hamlin, built a home on property in Mount Carmel, Utah. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places, an important destination for visiting artists who wish to partake in the beauty of southern Utah, and has been maintained by the Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts since 1999.
To ensure the preservation of the property, the Thunderbird Foundation hosts the yearly Maynard Dixon Country event, a four-day celebration of art that includes symposiums and art demonstrations at the Old Rock Church, and poetry readings and musical performances at the Maynard Dixon Property. Artist participants in the event include G. Russell Case, Glenn Renell, Louis Escobedo, Brett Allen Johnson, Ray Roberts, Denise Larue Mahlke, Dilleen Marsh and Lorenzo Chavez, among many others.
The landscapes of the Dixon property provide endless inspiration for Escobedo, who
says, “I love the geometric shapes in Utah. The mountains near Mount Carmel have so much splendor. As an artist I can only paint some of it.”
Renell will host a symposium on Dixon and modernism. The artist describes, “The standards set by the numerous painters that have found inspiration in Dixon Country are high and pose a challenge for every painter working there today. I’m looking forward to the interaction with other painters and the inspiration and insight coming from their presentations. Exploring big ideas in a non-academic setting should lead to a freewheeling and exciting gathering.”
Chavez first saw his first Dixon paintings in the early 1990s at a Santa Fe museum exhibition, and they had a profound impact on him. “Dixon was a master at presenting those vast open spaces and his reverence of the land is so apparent,” he says. Chavez will show paintings of his home state of New Mexico, adding, “I try to paint in a way that represents memories of childhood including the dry heat of the air, the rough and worn but solid adobe walls, the gentle hum of cicadas, the sweet scent of sage and piñon pine….i’m attempting to emotionally move others the way that Maynard Dixon’s paintings continue to move me.”
Maynard Dixon Country will take place Wednesday, August 22, through Saturday, August 25, with a gala reception occurring Friday evening from 6 to 9 p.m.