Award recognizes storied artistic and athletic career

By David Tyler

Publisher

One of Cazenovia’s true Renaissance men, Jim Ridlon, will be honored later this month with the Distinguished American Award by the CNY Chapter of the National Football Foundation and the College Hall of Fame Inc.

The Distinguished American Award is the highest honor awarded by the organizations and has been given to only seven others in 19 years of operation.

In Ridlon’s storied career, he has distinguished himself as an artist, educator, and athlete. Upon graduating from Syracuse University in 1957 he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers, where he spent six years and was later traded to the Dallas Cowboys where he played an additional two years, finishing his career as an All-Pro safety.  

While playing in the NFL Ridlon began his Masters of Fine Arts degree attending Stanford University and San Francisco State College. He eventually returned to Syracuse University to complete his MFA and coach the defensive backfield under legendary coach Ben Schwartzwalder.

Football, he said, “provided me with the discipline needed to work through challenges in the studio.” 

He served on the faculty of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University for 35 years, retiring in 2000 as an emeritus professor.

As an artist, Ridlon’s exhibition record spans the globe, from India to Canada and Italy to Brazil. His work is included in the collections of major museums and galleries, including the Albright Knox Art Gallery, Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute, Everson Museum of Art, as well as many private collections.

Ridlon’s work spans a variety of mediums, from bronze sculptures, to collages of “found item” to impressionistic oil paintings. The Outland Trophy, awarded annually to the nation’s top collegiate interior lineman, is one of Ridlon’s works. So is a recognizable assemblage commissioned by ABC Television Network to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Wide World of Sports.

“I work in the areas where I am excited,” Ridlon said. “I could never stay with one medium forever. When I want to express ideas I look for the right medium to be able to do that.”

“There are some times when I am overwhelmed by landscapes and gardens, so I am drawn more to paint than found objects,” he added. “But I am always drawn back to found objects in my work.”

Ridlon’s career accomplishments are well known, but he draws his greatest pride from something that happened long before he suited up in the NFL or sold his first painting.

“The greatest moment of my life as an artist, educator or student was when I was able to overcome stuttering caused by dyslexia,” he said. “That was in the eighth grade. What motivated that achievement was my father telling me that quarterbacks call plays and audibles and they had to be understood.”

As a young man, hampered by dyslexia, Ridlon struggled in the classroom, he said. He found success, instead, in art class and on the playground.

“Football paid the bills. It got me through college.,” Ridlon said. “It got me through graduate school, and it gave me the ability to develop a professional career as an artist/educator.”

In a roundabout way, it also brought him to Cazenovia. When he was a student athlete at Syracuse University, he would hitchhike back home to Nyack, N.Y. Often, he said, his first lift would end in Cazenovia.

“I was so impressed with the town, I decided that when I finally settle, this is where I want to live,” Ridlon said. “I have not been disappointed.”

Ridlon will receive the Distinguished American Award at an awards ceremony on Jan. 27 at Turning Stone Casino. The event also honors a select group of outstanding student/athletes from around Central New York.

“I think this honor has to do with the organizations recognizing that football can change peoples’ lives,” Ridlon said. “It can provide them with a platform to achieve, to find a platform for expressing themselves.  

The National Football Foundation includes 120 chapters in 47 states, oversees the College Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Ga., and has granted over $30 million in scholarships. The Central New York Chapter includes more than 70 high schools and nine colleges and universities from throughout Central New York.