The Olney Gallery in Phoenix will present landscape artist Tony Winters’ collection of oil paintings featuring Arizona’s rivers, canals and urban waterways.

As an environmental artist, Mr. Winters attempts to call attention to the community’s dependence on the rivers that he believes are a “precious and threatened resource” in the Arizona desert, according to a press release.

Mr. Winters paints the remote desert rivers like Sycamore Creek and the San Pedro, as well as mountain reservoirs, canals and resort swimming pools in the Valley.

Water use is a hot topic in Arizona, but Mr. Winters says he believes in addressing highly political issues in a non-political way.

“Ultimately, I believe people feel protective love for places they know and find beautiful,” he said in a prepared statement.
Mr. Winters’s work has previously been exhibited in Phoenix at the Monorchid on Roosevelt Row, the Mesa Public Library and, most recently, two one man shows at the Arizona Capitol Museum.

His Arizona work is represented by gallery Casa de Artistas in Scottsdale. In 2018, his show “Renegades: Arizona’s Undammed Rivers” portrayed the Upper Verde and the San Pedro, Arizona’s last remaining wild rivers.

Mr. Winters documented the remote desert rivers as they appear today, from the Mexican border crossing to the rugged canyons of Yavapai County. With the help of guides from the Water Sentinels group, he hiked into remote areas along each river, locating sites to paint that are significant for their wildlife, ecology or scenic beauty.

His 2016 series “Desert River/City River” featured the reservoirs and canals that bring water to the City of Phoenix. a new vision of these magical places that highlights their value as part of Arizona’s legacy.

Mr. Winters is a prize-winning classically trained contemporary artist who continues the landscape art tradition of the Hudson River School painters to explore and portray today’s outdoor environment.

Mr. Winters has exhibited his work nationally and has been featured in both online and print publications such as Outdoor Painter and Fine Art Connoisseur, a release states.

On Feb. 7, 2020, there will be a reception for the artist, free to the public. The exhibition has been developed in conjunction with the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Church of Phoenix.

“Out of His Heart Will Flow Rivers,” will be on display at the Olney Gallery through Feb. 26, 2020. The Olney Gallery is at 100 W Roosevelt St. in Phoenix.