Valentino Dixon, an American artist who endured 27 years of wrongful imprisonment before his exoneration, is launching a charitable art auction to support debt-ridden inmates in the UAE during Ramadan. The initiative, inspired by Dubai philanthropist Firoz Merchant’s prisoner release program, will see Dixon donate 50% of proceeds from the sale of artworks created during his incarceration.
Now known as Tariq Ramzan Abdullah after converting to Islam in 1999, Dixon was wrongly convicted of a fatal shooting in Buffalo, New York at age 21. Despite evidence pointing to another perpetrator, he received a 39-year sentence at Attica Correctional Facility where he developed his artistic practice, sometimes drawing for up to ten hours daily.
His breakthrough came when prison authorities requested he sketch golf courses—a subject he had never personally experienced. Over two decades, Dixon produced more than 300 golf landscape drawings, including eight depicting Dubai courses like Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek, based solely on magazine references. These works eventually attracted national attention through Golf Digest’s coverage, leading legal advocates to reopen his case and secure his release in 2018.
Today, Dixon’s art commands substantial value with original works selling for tens of thousands of dollars and large-scale pieces reaching up to $1 million. His collectors include prominent figures such as former President Bill Clinton and Michelle Obama, who acquired one of his golf pieces as a Christmas gift for President Barack Obama.
Now residing in Southeast Asia, Dixon expresses no bitterness about his ordeal, crediting Islam with providing spiritual peace. His upcoming auction represents a full-circle moment: using the art that sustained him during imprisonment to help others regain their freedom. “If half of what I sell can help someone walk out prison,” Dixon stated, “that would mean more than any price tag.”