Valentino Dixon knows what prison takes from a man.

This Ramadan, the American artist — wrongfully jailed for 27 years before being exonerated — plans to auction some of the paintings he created while incarcerated and donate half the proceeds to help secure the release of debt-ridden inmates in the UAE.

The idea, he said, was inspired by Dubai businessman Firoz Merchant’s prisoner release initiative reported by Khaleej Times on Friday.

“I don’t even know which authority I should contact yet,” Dixon told Khaleej Times. “But my intention is clear. I want the money to help someone get out. I know what that feels like.”

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Embracing Islam

Dixon, 56, embraced Islam in 1999 and changed his name to Tariq Ramzan Abdullah, naming himself after an imam who influenced him during his years in prison.

He was 21 when he was convicted of a fatal shooting in Buffalo, New York — a crime he did not commit. Despite witnesses and a confession from the real perpetrator, he was sentenced to 39 years and sent to Attica Correctional Facility.

Inside Attica, he drew for up to 10 hours a day. One day, the prison warden asked him to sketch his favourite golf hole. Dixon had never played golf.

Over the next two decades, he created more than 300 golf course drawings. Eight of them were of Dubai courses, including Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek — landscapes he had only seen in magazines while confined to his cell.

Drawing to freedom

Those drawings would eventually change his life. After Golf Digest featured his prison artwork in a widely read story that questioned the integrity of his conviction, legal advocates took up his case. In 2018, he was exonerated and walked free after 27 years.

Today, his art commands significant value. Original works and commissions sell for tens of thousands of dollars, with some large-scale originals listed as high as $1 million.

He recently shared a photograph of himself presenting one of his golf drawings to former US President Bill Clinton. The artwork had been purchased by a prominent lawyer.

Earlier, Michelle Obama had acquired one of his golf pieces as a Christmas gift for then-President Barack Obama.

Dixon has also shared photographs of himself with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, two of the greatest golfers in history 

“Drawing those courses kept me steady,” he said. “They gave me peace.”

In 2023, he travelled to Dubai as a special guest at the Dubai Desert Classic, visiting some of the very courses he once sketched inside prison. 

Here's a video of Valentino Dixon speaking about his journey and sharing his story wholeheartedly:

Now living outside the United States, Dixon says he is not ready to return.

“I left the US and went to Thailand for three months. Now I’m in Vietnam,” he said. “I’m just trying to find a country that gives me peace. I don’t plan on living in the US anymore.”

There is no bitterness in his voice.

“If I were angry, I wouldn’t have peace,” he said. “Islam taught me that.”

This Ramadan, he hopes his artwork will do for others what it once did for him.

“If half of what I sell can help someone walk out prison,” he said, “that would mean more than any price tag.”

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