About

DorothyChurchill-Johnson (1942-2023) was a native of Massachusetts, where she graduated in 1964 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a Master of Fine Arts. It was there when she began accumulating top awards for her mural-size contemporary realist oil paintings. Her traditional training in oils remained steadfast throughout her life. She occasionally worked in pen and ink, yet not in acrylic. 

Instead of leaving New England after graduation, Dorothy chose to remain there and pursue her passion as a working artist. She then briefly resided in Michigan before making her final move to Santa Barbara, California where she lived for five decades until her passing in 2023. In that time, she established herself as a prominent and award-winning visual artist. She had fine turned her unique talent and style to display both nature’s beauty as well as its fragility in all its detail. Her mural-size canvases are dedicated to showcasing a single element, whether it be a flower, a cluster of petals or a lone branch in the desert. Her work gives off a feeling that nature is larger than life, important to experience, and that even the barrenness of the desert can evoke a sense of stillness and raw beauty. Inspired by her daily walks through Santa Barbara's diverse landscape, from mountains to sea, Dorothy became a strong advocate for the sustainability of the natural environment. 

Dorothy also explored neo-pop and surrealism of life in urban settings and its culture. These paintings often contain subtle messages and symbols that leave viewers intrigued and captivated. Her series of Kaleidoscopes is pure fascination, as she created them by hand, with no digital help. She painstakingly mirrored detail of color and fragments seemingly ready for movement.

Revealing patterns and details was exemplified in her neo-pop mens suit series. She had the skill to create a garment on a large canvas where each thread creating the cloth is countable. Hundreds of them are woven into a ready made jacket by the stroke of her brush, done precisely, over and over again.

In 2024, just over a year after Dorothy's passing, three large paintings were acquired for permanent display in the new Sara Miller McCune Arts Library, at the University of California at Santa Barbara. It was an additional honor to her legacy, underscoring her enduring relevance. In 2021, the renowned Butler Institute of American Painting held a one-woman exhibition of her work, accompanied by a banquet in Dorothy’s honor, and her lecture on the visual arts. One of her paintings was acquired by Butler for its permanent loan collection. 

For over sixty years, Dorothy’s oil paintings have graced the walls of museums and major corporations, luxury hotels, and private collections both nationally and internationally. Some of her most prized and award-winning pieces have been exhibited throughout the world of museums and galleries, including but not limited to LACMA in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, D.C., Miami, New Orleans, Palm Springs, San Francisco, Canada, Belgium, Mexico, the Philippines, and Russia.

Dorothy was also community minded. She cared about her peers and the people on the streets, helping where she could. She quickly emerged as a pillar of the arts community. She championed the importance of the visual arts as a way to see, to understand and to experience the world within the environment of Greater Santa Barbara. She was a founding board member and president emeritus of Santa Barbara Studio Artists, a non-profit organization supporting professionals with working studios. Dorothy was also a prominent member of WE, an association of women artists who showcase their work together in galleries. As a memorial to her artistic life and dedication to the environment, Santa Barbara Beautiful, INC, with help from her colleagues and friends, installed a permanent plaque under a Queen Palm tree at the corner of Santa Barbara and Mission Streets. It honors her artistic legacy, her contribution to the community, and to the beauty of Santa Barbara.

For more information, check out her website and/or contact

The Dorothy Churchill-Johnson Trust at 805-966-0073.