​LOOKING AT AMERICA AND PAINTING HOW I WANT, WHAT I WANT AND HOW I SEE IT
Dean Mitchell
Jan 9 – Jun 27, 2020 | East Gallery

In his four-decade long career, Dean Mitchell, of Tampa, Fla., has become known for his figurative works, landscapes and still lifes. Looking at America and Painting How I Want, What I Want and How I See It, is an exhibition of works by the Pittsburgh, Pa., native.

"I'm looking for freedom regardless of painting styles and labels imposed on artists in regards to race and ethnic origins,” Mitchell says, “total freedom to explore my full potential as an artist."

Mitchell, who earned his MFA from the Columbus College of Art & Design in Columbus, Ohio, maintains a deep connection with Quincy, Fla., a small industrial city where he was raised and inspired by his grandmother.

His grandmother pushed him to not to waver in his pursuit, encouraging him to attend his art studies. His work has been collected by many prestigious museums and has received numerous accolades, included meeting President Barack Obama and his family, and being considered as a portrait artist for the 44th president. A small snapshot of Mitchell at the White House hangs on the wall at his Quincy location—aptly named after his grandmother—the  Marie Brooks Gallery.  

Mitchell has been featured in publications including The New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Southwest Art, Art of the West, American Artist, Western Art Collector, Artists Magazine, Fine Art International, Art News, The Art of Watercolour Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, and The Outwin: American Portraiture Today at the National Portrait Gallery.

His art can be found at Autry National Center, Los Angeles; Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, Ark.; Canton Museum of Art, Canton, Ohio; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Mo.; Margaret Harwell Art Museum, Poplar Bluff, Mo.; Rockwell Museum, Corning, N.Y.; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas; Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, Kansas; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Ariz.; Gadsden Art Center, Quincy, Fla.; Whitney Western Art Museum,  Cody, Wyo.; Mississippi Art Museum, Jackson, Miss.; St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Mo.; Library of Congress, and the Quanhua Art Museum in China.

​In his long career, Mitchell has garnered more than 600 awards, including the T.H. Saunders International Artists in watercolor competition in London, England; the American Watercolor Society Gold and Silver Medals; the National Watercolor Society Masters Award; the Allied Artist of American Gold Medal in Watercolor and Oil, and the Thomas Moran Award from the Salmagundi Club in New York.