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Photos from the artist’s reception on June 2 for George Wilson and his exhibition “250 Years of Freedom: Moments That Shaped America,” which is showing at the Switzer Gallery on PSC’s Pensacola campus through Aug. 7. (Photo Credit: Christina Hanna)
Gulf Breeze artist George Wilson greeted guests and discussed his paintings depicting key events in American history during the Switzer Gallery artist’s reception on June 2 at Pensacola State College. (Photo Credit: Christina Hanna)
In honor of the nation’s semiquincentennial celebration, the Switzer Gallery at Pensacola State College is featuring Gulf Breeze artist George Wilson with the exhibition “250 Years of Freedom: Moments That Shaped America” through Aug. 7. The exhibit includes nearly 50 paintings that trace America’s history from its Native American origins through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and into the modern era.
Wilson has described the show as “events that have shaped our country over its 250 years” and said that he hopes the exhibit’s viewers will take away something they didn’t know before.
At the exhibition’s artist reception on June 2, Wilson welcomed the gallery’s guests and unveiled his most recent work, which depicts a military pilot greeted home by his adoring children. The evolution of military aviation, centered around Naval Air Station Pensacola and including the Blue Angels Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, is depicted by several paintings in the collection.
“A lot of it has to do with me and my story. I’m a retired military pilot, so aviation is in my DNA, and I have a lot of airplanes here that span the course of history, but there are a lot of other paintings that have no correlation to aviation,” he said.
One such painting depicts the Battle of Pensacola with Gen. Bernardo de Gálvez leading his Spanish fleet of tall ships into Pensacola Bay on March 9, 1781. “Underground Railroad” shows a family arriving at Fort Pickens by boat from Milton, helped to freedom by Union soldiers. Another poignant painting depicts U.S. Army troop movement with numerous helicopters flying over rice paddy workers in 1970 Vietnam.
“I spend more time researching than I do painting, because I want to make sure that the painting accurately portrays what I’m trying to convey to the viewer,” said Wilson.
The show also includes a celebratory painting, “The 250th Milestone,” which looks ahead to this year’s Independence Day with fireworks bursting above festive boats on the water.
The Switzer Gallery is open to the public, free of charge, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday during the current summer term. Friday hours, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., will resume July 10.
About the Artist: George P. Wilson III grew up in Foley, Alabama, and graduated from Auburn University. He entered the U.S. Army and earned his wings as an Army aviator. During a 23-year military career, he was an advanced flight instructor and combat aviator, and he held numerous command and staff assignments, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. During the Vietnam War, he served two combat tours and was awarded two Bronze Stars. After retiring, George and his wife, Suzon, returned to their 1920s Gulf Breeze home on Santa Rosa Sound, a National Wildlife Habitat that inspires his art. He is a full-time painter, often depicting aircraft and drawing on his previous travels across the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. He and his wife have a daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren who live in Gulf Breeze.