About
Born in Chicago Illinois, Dixie Salazar is an artist and writer who has shown her work extensively in the Central Valley of California and in San Francisco, Merced, Las Vegas, Oregon and New York as well as other locations. She has had numerous one person shows in Fresno as well as Merced, Turlock, Monterey and Las Vegas, Nevada. A major show at Arte Americas in Fresno in 2006 explored Mayan ideology that was reflected in her painted collages.
Dixie has won many awards for her artwork, including a number of Best of Shows, First and Second places in juried shows throughout California. Her latest one person show took place at the Fig Tree Gallery in Fresno, CA in 2021. Dixie has also published seven books of poetry and two novels. In 2023, Dixie received a California Arts Council Fellowship for her art and writing contributions.
Dixie has a studio and gallery downtown at 654 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, California 93721.
Artist Statment
I have considered myself an artist since I was about three years old. Through many years of struggle as a working mother, tied to mind numbing jobs, I always made artwork. It was my refuge and the silent mate who always got me and will eventually be the repository of the difficulties that have shaped me.
My work explores female identity as well as my mixed heritage (Anglo and Latina). Utilizing everyday objects and popular culture icons, affect images and archetypal symbols, I create a self-made mythos that relates to my personal life but also resonates with universal concerns. Some works play with reality versus illusion, realism versus abstractionism in ways that enable me to discover new worlds within myself. I also attempt to access the subconscious and hidden interior worlds of the psyche. I am interested in the leaps of perception that occur when disparate images are juxtaposed, releasing a synergy of metaphor and meaning far beyond the images by themselves. My work as an art therapist has helped me to learn to value the process as much as the product. Also, I try to incorporate humor as a useful tool to defuse the terror and chaos of the contemporary world.
I consider myself to be mostly self-taught, with credit given to my high school art teachers who taught me the basics and greatly inspired my ambition to be a lifelong artist.
My newest work falls into roughly two bodies: painted collage and oils on canvas. I also look forward to continuing my work with the homeless and in social justice areas, confident that these and other passions will flow from my paint brush. As Charlie Parker said, "If it’s not in your life, it won’t come out your horn."
Biography
Dixie Salazar is an author, activist, and educator, she has been a working artist and writer for more than forty years. Her work has been described as rich in the color and iconography of her Spanish heritage with a passion for life. Her paintings are a combination of flowing forms, vivid color, and strong design elements, often imbued with mystery and ambiguity. Her work sometimes accesses found objects and appropriated images from old advertisements, coloring books and other historical sources.
She works in many media including oil painting, acrylics, watercolor, collage, and photography.
Dixie is a successful poet and published author, publishing her first novel, LIMBO in 1995, and three volumes of poetry, HOTEL FRESNO, REINCARNATION OF THE
Her recent projects include a photographic exhibit of a homeless encampment in Fresno and serving on the board of the Eco Village Project and the Dakota Eco Garden, which provide sustainable, green housing for the homeless in a community environment.
Some of Dixie’s awards include a Horizon Award and Award of Excellence from the National Women’s Political Caucus. Her work was chosen in a very competitive bidding process to be included in the Renaissance Housing Project for the homeless which was sponsored by the Fresno Housing Authority. Her work won Best of Show and a First and Second Place in the Fresno Arts Council Juried Show. She also won Best of Show in the jueied Sierra Art Trails show. Dixie’s work was featured in a one-woman show at the Monterrey Peninsula College Art Gallery.
Exhibitions & Resume
- 2023
- California Arts Council Fellowship award ($10,000 award)
- Arts in Agriculture Fresno, Ca honorable mention
- Poetry Reading Fig Tree Gallery, Fresno, CA
- Lodi Juried Spring show – Best of Show and 2 nd place
- Fig Tree Gallery, Fresno, Ca One person show
- 2022
- Madera Celebrate Agriculture juried show—2 nd place
- Arts in Agriculture, juried show Fresno, CA First place
- Commission Dr. Paz 3 panels 40" x 72" for waiting room Paz Dermatology, Fresno, CA
- 2021
- Carnegie Art Showcase, Turlock, CA first place
- Arts in Agriculture Fresno, juried show first place
- 2020
- City Hall Fresno, CA one person show
- Madera Arts in Agriculture juried show – first place
- 2019
- Carnegie Arts group show 2 works accepted
- Madera Arts in Agriculture juried show second place
- Arts in Agriculture Turlock – Best of show and first place
- 2018
- Ramos Torres Winery Kingsburg one person show
- Blitzer Gallery group show invitational
- Madera Arts in Agriculture juried show 2 nd place
- City Hall Arts in Agriculture- 2 nd plalce
- Faces of Fresno- Art displayed at Fresno/ Yosemite Airport- 14 works
- Porterville College Art Gallery – One woman show "…and homeless near a thousand homes I stood." and Poetry Reading – Poetry reading – C.H.A.P series- Porterville College Theater
- Arte Americas Four Degrees of Separation (woman’s show) 10 works
- Fig Tree Gallery "Summer 2017 - Fire and Water" One woman show
- 2017
- Gallery West, Oakhurst, CA One woman show (with poetry reading)
- Arts in Agriculture juried show Fresno Arts Council, second place, oils
- Stanislaus State University Art Gallery – One person show “And Homeless Near a Thousand Homes
I Stood” painted collage and photographs on theme of homelessness (catalog) November 2016 - January 2017
- Pacific Grove, Monterey Peninsula Art Gallery, One Person show
- Fresno Music and Arts Academy – one person show- Jan. 2017
- 2016
- Nudes in November- Sorensen Gallery 2 nd place Nov 2016
- Madera Arts in Agriculture Show, Madera, CA 1st place oils, Sept. 2016
- One Degree of Separation, Artes Americas, Fresno, CA Group show May, 2016
- Lodi Spring Show 3rd place oils, hon. Mention, oils, Apr. 2016
- Orange County Collectives - Laguna Beach, Ca. "How I Identify" Juried Show March 2016
- 2015
- Stanislaus State College, Social Justice Conference (Speaker Homeless Advocacy and the Dakota
Eco Village)
- Poetry Reading, slide show of my artwork October 2015
- Madera Arts in Agriculture Juried show (First Place, oils) September 2015
- Orange County Collectives- Laguna Beach, Ca "Celebrating the Abstract" Juried group show May,
2015
- Fresno Arts Council Juried Show- Arts in Agriculture- 1st place, honorable mention May 2015
- Orange County Collective- Laguna Beach, Ca “Faces” Juried Group show March 2015
- Sierra Art Trails – The Figure Revealed- Juried group show – 1st place February 2015
- Pacific College Gallery, Fresno CA – One woman show January 2015
- 2014
- Lodi Spring Juried Show, Lodi, CA - honorable mention May 2014
- Fresno Arts council Juried group show- Arts and Agriculture- Best of Show, first place, second place, May 2014
- Sierra Art Trails, Yosemite Juried Group show, Best of show – February 2014
- Pam Foss Fine Art Gallery, St. Michaels, MD invited group show February 2014
- Orange County Collectives—Laguna Beach, CA Juried group show October 2014
- Au Naturel Clatsop — Community College — Astoria, Oregon (National Juried Show) January 23 - March 20, 2014
- 2013
- Pam Foss Fine Art Gallery, St. Michaels, MD, Juried invitational show Women's Rights, November 2013
- Chris Sorenson Gallery "Nudes in November", Juried show 2nd place, November 2013
- Arte Americas, Fresno, CA, "Interconnections", One person show, painted collage, July - September
- Alliant Business College, Fresno, CA—One person show. August – December 2013
- Lodi Spring Juried Show, Lodi, CA. two paintings, 1st place Oils, May 2013
- Women’s Caucus for Art, National Steinbeck Center, Salinas, CA, Juried Invitational Show,
"Honoring Women's Rights", September 2012- January 2013
- 2012
- Fresno Regional Foundation, Fresno, CA – One person show, 2012
- Fresno Housing Authority, (Public Art Acquisition, triptych and 3 paintings) purchased. 2012
- 2011
- Sierra Art Trails, Oakhurst, CA (Our Wild Lands — Juried show, 2nd place) December 2011
- Downtown Club, Fresno, CA — One woman show. January 2011
- 2010
- K-Jewel Gallery, Fresno, CA— One woman show. Nov. 2010
- St. Paul’s Newman Center, Fresno, CA "Homeless in Fresno", One woman show photos, Januarty 2010
- CBD Gallery, San Francisco, North of Tenderloin group show (ten paintings) March 2010
- 2009
- Coke Hallowell River Center, Fresno, CA "Primative Diaspora", One person show- April 2009
- Stellar Gallery sponsored group show, Hornitos, CA—Oct. 2009
- Arte Americas, Fresno, CA "Espada De Los Filos", Contemporary Latin American Artists from New York to California December 2008 - February 2009
- 2007
- Fresno Convention Center, "California Speaks" (Artist in Residence creating art piece on site at Health Care Referendum, August 2007
- 2006
- Art Americas "Entre Dos Aquas", One woman show, February 2006
- 2005
- T.W. Patterson Bldg. "Escaping Gravity", One woman show – oils, October 2005
- Educational Employees Credit Union, Sacramento, CA one woman show (oils), November 2005
- Merced Multicultural Arts Center, Merced, CA— "Entre Dos Aquas" One woman art show January – March 2005
- 2003
- Clark County Library, Las Vegas, Nevada "La Mujer, Walking in Two Worlds", One woman show March
- Alliance for the Arts at the Metropolitan Museum, Fresno, CA. Juried show (Honorable mention) May 2003
- CSUF Lyles Gallery— "Flashes and Shadows", one woman show 2003
- CSUF John Wright Theatre Gallery, "Abov and Below the Surface" one woman show coordinated with Valley State Prison’s inmate’s writings, February 2003
- 2002
- Galeria la Raza, Group show, San Francisco, CA May 2002
- Mission Cultural Arts Center, "Solo Mujers", juried group show San Francisco, CA February – March 2002
- 2001
- Fresno Art Museum "Imagining Water", One Woman show Oils, September 2001
- Sahara West Library , Las Vegas Nev. Group Invitational show, September 2001
- "Hecho En Califas: The Last Decade", juried traveling group show: L.A., San Jose, Richmond, San Diego, Sacramento, Fresno, CA. January 2000 – July 2001
- Gallery 25, Fresno, CA "Beyond the Lens" One woman show, June 2001
- 1999
- Mayana Gallery, New York, NY (one person show), June 1999
- 1998
- Arte Americas, Fresno, CA "California Corrido", Installation piece. October 1998
- Barnes and Noble, Fresno, C—Painted Windows, Spain". One woman show, 1998
- 1997
- Galerie Govreaux, Fresno, CA — One woman show, 1997
- Fresno City Hall, Juried Group Show, February 1996
- 1996
- Fresno Arts Council, Juried Group Show, November 1996
- Fresno Metropolitan Museum, Artist in Residence & One Woman Show, with community altar) November 1996
- Inside Out Gallery, Fresno, CA — FIGURE IN MOTION, One woman show, 1996
- Californian State University, Fresno, President’s Gallery, "New Associations", One woman show February 1996
- 1995
- Matrix Gallery, Sacramento, CA — Juried Group Show, 1995
- 1994
- Art House Gallery, Fresno, CA— One Person show 1994
- 1993
- Matrix Gallery, Sacramento, CA — Women Artists ’93 (Juried Show) 1993
- Fresno City College Art Space Gallery, Fresno, CA — " Ambiguities", One woman show of watercolors. February 1993
- The Fresno Arts Center, Fresno, CA — Drawing on Fresno, Group Show, May 1983
- 1991
- Landmarks Preservation Council Photography Show, Fresno, Ca. (Hand colored photos of Fresno City College Old Administration Building). One person show
- Fig Tree Gallery, Fresno, CA — Invitational Group Show, 1991
- 1990
- The Fresno Art Museum Rental Gallery, Fresno, CA - "Water Falls", One woman show of watercolors. 1990
- 1998
- Valley woman Books, Fresno, CA— One woman show, watercolors, 1988
- 1988
- Valley woman Books, Fresno, CA— One woman show, watercolors, 1988
- 1984
- Gallery 25 Fresno, CA - "Out of the Darkness" (slide/sound presentation) July 1984
- The Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA "The Glass Between Us" (One person show, photography) November 1984
- 1983
- California State University, Fresno, Phoebe Connolly Lecture Hall, "Out of the Darkness" (slide/sound presentation-original slides and taped electronic music collaboration) May 1983
- 1982
- Gallery 25, Fresno, CA— One Woman Show, October 1982
- Congressional Arts Invitational, Washington, D.C., Group show April, 1982
- The Fresno Arts Center, Group Color Photography Show. April 1982
- Congressman Tony Coelho’s Office, Sacramento, One Woman Show, 1982
- 1981
- Matrix Gallery, Sacramento, CA — Group Juried Show, 1981
- Gallery 25, Fresno, CA — One Woman Show, 1981
- Spectrum Gallery, Fresno, CA — Group Photography Show, 1981, 1982
- The Fresno Art Center, Fresno CA — "Six Directions" group photography show (Six photographers) January 1981
- 1980
- California State Building, Fresno, CA— One Woman Show, 1980
- 1979
- Art Revelations, Fresno, CA - One Woman Show 1979