Department of Art Alumni
Plonia Nixon
Plonia Van Der Hoeven Nixon was born in Kampen at the Zuiderzee in the Netherlands. After getting her diploma at the Gymnasium (B) in Apeldoorn, she studied biology and art history at the University of Amsterdam, received her M.F.A. from the Academy of Fine Arts and her M.O.A. and M.O.B. from the Academy for Art Teachers, both in Amsterdam.
She taught art and art history in Holland for seventeen years and for six years at the Academy for Art Teachers in Tilburg. She headed the art department of the institution for the production of slides for educational purposes for seven years and wrote a monthly column about comparative analysis in art dor a Dutch art Journal.
Nixon exhibited her work throughout Holland and Germany. The shows included The Gallery Arti and amicitiae, Gallery Lieve Hemel and Gallery Mokum in Amsterdam; The Gallery Arti in The Hague; The Singel Gallery in Utrecht; Gemeente Museum in Arnhem and Die Kunst Halle in West Berlin.
In 1971 Nixon married and moved to New York City. She had two one-woman shows at the Summit Gallery on 57th Street, was part of and exhibited with the United Art Group, a group of selected foreign artists. She participated in an all-women show "The Contemporary Spirit." She had a guest spot on WQXR Radio in connection with this show.
Nixon moved to New Fairfield, Connecticut in 1974 where she works and teaches in her own studio. She joined Western as an adjunct teacher in 1981 where she had a solo show in 1983.
Nixon continues to exhibit widely. She has exhibited solo shows in New Milford, Putnam, the Wooster Community Art Center and the Branchville Soho Gallery in Ridgefield and has participated in group shows in Stanford, Washington Depot, Danbury, New Milford, Bridgewater, the Hartford Athenaeum, New Britain, Bridgeport and at the Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery and the Paris-New York - Kent Gallery in Kent.
Nixon has won over 50 awards, including the Grumbacher gold medal.
