traditional landscape paintings by dawn chandler

philmont

(scroll down to explore the new philmont series; click on each to enlarge and see the full image 🖼️)

If Philmont is part of your story, these landscapes are painted with you in mind.

As my friend Susan recently said, “Art can remind us of who we are, where we’ve been, and the stories we carry inside of us.” The paintings on this page do exactly that for me — and for so many others whose lives have been shaped by Philmont Scout Ranch.

From the age of 15 through my college years, I spent part of each summer backpacking — and eventually guiding others backpacking — at Philmont in Colfax County, New Mexico. My first Philmont trek was in 1980, with my parents as my advisors and my brother Eric as our Ranger. I returned again in 1981 as Crew Leader, and In 1982, at 17, I had the life-transforming experience of Philmont’s Rayado program, an intense, challenging backpacking trek in the spirit of Outward Bound, which my brothers had previously also done. Two years later, in 1984, I had the privilege of being chosen as a Rayado Ranger and leading a group of young women on their own Rayado trek.

After being a Rayado Ranger, I served as a Ranger Trainer for two years, and in 1988 had the incredible honor of serving as Philmont’s first woman backcountry Camp Director. I spent that memorable summer, as well as the following summer, at Abreu. From 1997 – 2022 I rounded out my Philmont career by serving as the first Executive Director of the Philmont Staff Association (PSA). I share more details about my Philmont experience (and how it has inspired my art) in my conversation with Caitlin Lowe on the Silver on the Sage podcast.

I’m grateful to Philmont for helping to shape my life and introduce me to countless good people — many of whom have become among my most devoted art patrons and friends. It was also the gateway to my falling in love with New Mexico, making it my home, and finding in its landscapes a major source of artistic inspiration for the past many decades.

In 2026, Philmont’s Rayado program marks its 50th anniversary. From July 23–26, I joined scores of others to gather at Philmont to celebrate this milestone. To honor the occasion, I created a series of Philmont landscape paintings, ten of which were on display during the reunion. Three of those ten paintings were raffled to raise money for the Rayado Trek Scholarship Fund, with one winning ticket drawn each evening of the reunion. The holder of that ticket got to choose one painting from the series — which made the raffle especially fun. I’m proud to share that, thanks to the generosity of Rayado Reunion art lovers, together we raised over $5,500 for Rayado scholarships.

While this page of my website began with my new Rayado Reunion series, it is becoming a growing collection of Philmont paintings — past, present, and still to come. Check back frequently to explore the latest additions to this expanding archive. IWTGBTP