Published September 24, 2008
With Zion National Park opening its centennial celebration, the Mesquite Fine Arts Gallery is proud to feature the art of Maynard Dixon, one of Zion’s preeminent painters. Dixon’s work is the topic the monthly brown bag lecture held on Tuesday, October 7.
Mesquite artist, Diana Coonradt has been an admirer of the haunting beauty of Dixon’s southwest scenes for many years. She received a scholarship to study at the Maynard Dixon studio at Mt. Carmel, Utah, over the past summer. At the lecture, she will tell about that experience as well as speak on Dixon’s life and artistic style.
Dixon’s bold and majestic oil paintings are some of the most distinctive renderings of the American west, particularly his work featuring southern Utah and Arizona.
Dixon spent two months exploring the Zion area in 1933, and painted forty canvases during that time. He lived at Mt. Carmel in the late 1930s, and his former home is the focal point of the art studio that bears his name. Several of his paintings are featured in the current exhibition, Zion: A Century of Sanctuary, showing at the St George Art Museum throughmid-January.
Coonradt is making her third appearance as a brown bag brown bag speaker because she is a diverse artist who brings fresh subjects to the audience. The lecture is free to the public, and will be presented Tuesday noon, October 7.
Coonradt manages the art classes offered by the Virgin Valley Artist Association and is deeply involved in that organization. She has won frequent prizes for her work in the Gallery exhibitions over the past several years, as well as being featured Artist of the Month.
For further information concerning the Maynard Dixon brown bag lecture, The Mesquite Fine Arts Gallery, Virgin Valley Artists Association and its public art classes, please call the Gallery during business hours, 10am-4pm, Tuesday through Saturday at 702-346-1338.
The Gallery is operated by VVAA and supports its operation through sale of original art work.
