“Thanks, Mr. Dixon. I hope and pray you and your family are staying safe. I did in fact check out your artwork- quite impressive!”

- Jerome
VADM Jerome Adams 20th US Surgeon General

Artist James A. Dixon has often been described as “The Real Deal”. Dixon was born in 1958 to Clarence and Betty Dixon. His father was a Air Force serviceman and his mother a devoted wife and homemaker. Both parents were themselves aspiring artists who would encourage young Dixon’s talent for drawing. Recognizing his immense gift for making art, Dixon would make ‘becoming an artist’, his life. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1981 and Master of Fine Arts Degree in 1986 from Colorado State University. Over forty years of art making has added to his vast repertoire and as a business owner of his own LLC, JAD ARTS and CB Dixon African American Gallery. Dixon remains a well established artist beyond his local coteries. His artistic oeuvre has grown into a nationally recognized phenomenon, from his illustrations, major sculptures, and his socially relevant commissioned artwork.

An accomplished illustrator, Dixon has been published throughout his career in many newspapers and magazines that have been an important platform for sharing his voice and vision. He’s been commissioned to make cover art for the music and print industry, including greetings cards, compact disks sleeves, and cassettes, vinyl records, and other critically recognized publications, like Rolling Stone Magazine, New Art International, LUXE Magazine, Colorado Homes and Lifestyles, and Dys Records to name a few.

He’s been commissioned to make cover art for the music and print industry.

Among Dixon’s many collaborations throughout his artistic career, there is one he is especially fond of, the making of the Shadow Box Commemoration of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with his late sister Deborah Watkins. It was chosen as the companion to a nationally renowned exhibit textbook, “In The Spirit of Martin-The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” which was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute of Washington DC.

Since 1986, Dixon shifted his art practice significantly towards the material of bronze casting. Working with this material has enabled Dixon to more abstract possibilities in his personal style of work. By patiently learning the demanding techniques of bronze casting, has allowed him to work with prominent sculptors including Ed Dwight, Raymond B. Fedde, and Greg Wyatt, creator of the “Peace Fountain” located at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City. Dixon’s unique insights and talents have enabled him to collaborate with many other notable artists including the late Andy Warhol, famed jazz artists Hugh Ragin, and Pascal Comma lade of France, Conrad Schnitzler of Germany, and William V. Sharp, founder of Mnemonists/Biota, USA.

Dixon’s sculptures have been placed in numerous public and private collections throughout the United States, including the Black American West Museum in Denver and the private collections of Patti Labelle, Ashford & Simpson, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Hazel Miller, and Cleo Parker Robinson to name just a few. The Vance Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Arts in Denver has acquired six of Dixon’s bronze sculptures for their permanent collection.

Dixon sees himself as, “a global citizen” whose work encapsulates humanity at the very intersection of exploration and ever-expanding artistic creation.