For California artist Dennis Ziemienski, like many other Americans, Route 66 brings back memories of learning about the United States from his parents’ car. “As a kid, it was just fascinating,” explained Ziemienski, recalling road trips taken to visit relatives along the route. “For example, I loved neon, just as an interesting art form. So, I would draw or paint pictures, and I really became enamored with the whole idea of road trips.”
Childlike wanderlust and innate curiosity about the American West define many Ziemienski’s paintings, including the collection of Route 66 paintings he is currently working on for his upcoming show at Santa Fe’s Blue Rain Gallery. Bold cloud structures combine with distinctive colors and beloved landmarks to evoke vivid and timeless images of historic highway.
The collection will draw upon many of Route 66’s famous stops, like the historic orange-shaped Bono’s Restaurant and Deli near the road’s beginning in Los Angeles. In Oklahoma, Ziemienski plans to highlight Oklahoma City’s iconic Tower Theatre and Tulsa’s historic Will Rogers Motor Court, hoping to encapsulate the magic of the road’s many diverse stops.
A gallery show about Route 66 is not new to Ziemienski, who began his art career as an illustrator, designing posters for the Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby. In fact, one of his first gallery shows as an oil painter highlighted the history and images of the road for its 80th anniversary in 2006.“There wasn’t anything in Oklahoma, Illinois, or even California [in the 2006 show],” said Ziemienski. “It was mostly Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.”
Now, his return to the subject matter aims to delve deeper into the diverse landscapes Route 66 traverses, while still capturing the route’s vistas with his signature, stunning style.
“There’s a midpoint of Route 66 in the panhandle of Texas, and I have depicted that midpoint with a big cloud,” said Ziemienski, about a piece featured in the upcoming show. “It’s one of the bigger paintings. It has a Texas US 66 sign, and you can see the road stretching out into infinity.”
About The Exhibit: This solo exhibition of new oil paintings by Dennis Ziemienski will be on view from July 31 to August 10, 2026, at Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, with an artist reception Friday, July 31 from 5 – 7pm.