Free Republic

CHARLES MUENCH loves the lonely places. It is in the West, under a vast open sky, that the artist finds inspiration for his landscape paintings. “To truly understand the subject of your art,” he declares, “you must immerse yourself in it fully.” And so he does—his home ground is outside the small town of Gardnerville, NV, with its high desert bordered by the Pine Nut Mountains to the east and the massive Sierras to the west. From here he journeys to favorite spots he revisits regularly throughout the West.Paul and Susan Bingham, founders of the Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts,...

Then in 1990, browsing in a local discount bookstore I picked up a copy of “Exploring The West” by Herman J Viola and there, on page 240 was this picture, “Open Range”, painted by Maynard Dixon in 1942…..

"I suppose if one of my children were here discussing their relationship to me they would be able to think of things that were quite horrifying, dreadful, that I did, that I was…" - Dorothea Lange from her oral history

In the last years of his life Maynard Dixon (1875-1946) built a log and stone cabin in the high arid country of Southern Utah with his artist wife Edith Hamlin Dixon. Now in 2010, the home and property have been restored and the last week of August has been dedicated for the Maynard Dixon Country Event. This year will mark the twelfth celebration where 32 nationally known artists are invited to participate in the painting excursions, exhibition, sale and awards ceremony. This year, noted contemporary artist Clyde Aspevig will be the guest of honor and will give a presentation on...

Visitors to Zion National Park in Utah will want to adjust their arrival and departure times to avoid the closure of Utah Highway 9 this summer from the park’s east entrance to its junction with the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. The reconstruction of a 9½-mile section will close the road and tunnel through the Checkerboard Mesa and some other areas from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Controlled traffic will be allowed before 9 a.m. and after 4 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays, the park said

'CHILD OF GIANTS' Son speaks of growing up with Maynard Dixon, Dorothea Lange By LISA CRAWFORD WATSON Herald Correspondent Daniel Dixon has led, by most accounts, a remarkable life. At age 10, he was living in a Taos adobe, warmed by piñon fires and bathing "like homesteaders" in a tin tub. In 10th grade, he dropped out of school and became homeless. As a young adult, he became a freelance writer, having practiced the craft in the libraries where he had holed up to keep warm. Now a respected writer and biographer, it was actually not his life the 80-year-old...