Leland Dresser Donates Sculpture to CAL
The College of Arts and Letters alum gave his work in memory of John Dirks, a former art professor
Ping On, a Chinese expression of peace, is also the title of a unique sculpture donated by San Diego artist Leland Dresser to his alma mater, San Diego State’s College of Arts and Letters.
Leland DresserThe piece was presented in memory of John Dirks, who taught art and sculpture at SDSU for 30 years. He was a major influence on many young students, including Dresser.
“John noticed the first piece I did for his class and he encouraged me to major in art,” Dresser recalled.
As a student in the 1950s, Dresser enrolled in art classes to learn more about the field. He never considered himself an artist, but harbored plans to open a fine art supply store in San Diego after graduation.
Though his education was interrupted by the Korean War, Dresser returned to SDSU to complete his degree. The ebony sculpture he created for his senior project was featured on a local television show hosted by the renowned modernist painter Everett Gee Jackson, chair of SDSU’s School of Art.
Dresser changed career paths many times, finally becoming a successful industrial engineer, but he remained a prolific artist. A board member of the San Diego Museum of Art’s Artists Guild, he is best known for his sculpture and jewelry.
For some time, he maintained a studio in San Diego’s Spanish Village, where he created works exhibited in New York and Chicago as well as at the San Diego Museum of Art.
Dresser’s gift, Ping On, was carved in 1958 from a single slab of lignum vitae, a tropical South American wood, cut into three pieces and sculpted with wood chisels, mallets and files.
Beyond his own education, Dresser’s connection to SDSU crosses generations. His wife, two daughters, grandson and granddaughter all attended and his son-in-law is an art instructor on the Mesa.
