DIXON — The new year ushers in a change in leadership at The Next Picture Show (TNPS)  fine arts center in Dixon. Outgoing executive director Michael Glenn announced his upcoming retirement at the November board of directors meeting. 

Philip Atilano takes over for Glenn as of Jan. 1, 2022. A former Dixon native, and 1999 Dixon High School graduate, Atilano attended Sauk Valley Community College, and received a BFA from The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2005. After living in Milwaukee for 16 years, Atilano and his family decided to move back to the area in 2018. He and his wife Julia, along with their two sons, now reside in Sterling.

After college, Philip began working with Spolar Studio in Milwaukee as lead artist and project manager. After eight years with Spolar Studio, Atilano accepted the position of exhibit designer with The Betty Brinn Children’s Museum of Milwaukee, where he collaborated with a team and designed spaces and exhibits for the museum–some of which traveled the country and world. 

For the past seven years, Atilano has traveled extensively across the country and abroad with Conrad Schmitt Studios of New Berlin, Wis., as a foreman and lead artist performing restoration and conservation in some of the nation’s most beautiful architectural gems. Several of the buildings include the University of Notre Dame, the Minnesota State Capitol, the South Dakota State Capitol, the Paramount Theatre, and numerous cathedrals, basilicas, and churches across the nation. 

Previously, Atilano had personal ties with The Next Picture Show as an exhibiting artist, an exhibition judge, and performed and assisted in community art projects affiliated with the gallery. 

“I love The Next Picture Show. It is an amazing community resource with so much potential, much of which is untapped,” said Atilano. “The timing is perfect. I am at the point in my career where I am confident in my artistic abilities and visions and am ready for the new challenge.”

Atilano welcomes anyone to stop into the gallery Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., to visit, discuss art, or bring their ideas about what they would like to see at the Dixon art center in the future. He plans to bring his almost twenty years of experience to The Next Picture Show, offering fresh exhibits, new classes offered to the public, and incorporating much of what he has learned and seen in his travels.

The Next Picture Show is a 501c3 nonprofit organization whose goal is to nurture, develop, educate, foster the arts, and galvanize artists and patrons within the community. For more information about the fine arts center, visit www.nextpictureshow.org.