In the 1980s, Marion artist Nancy Mitton met someone who changed her artwork, and it’s never been the same since.

Mitton was a student at the Massachusetts College of Art when she took a class with painter George Nick.

“He was a great inspiration to me,” said Mitton of the realist painter. “He has a way of teaching his painting students how to see things differently.”

Now an accomplished painter herself, Mitton is paying tribute to her friend and former teacher by participating in an exhibit at the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury.

Guest curated by Kim Alemian, “Galvanized Truth: A Tribute to George Nick” features the work of 38 painters and sculptors who are peers or former students of Nick.

Mitton said the show demonstrates the wide range of art that Nick has inspired, from pop art to figurative pieces. Mitton’s own contribution to the exhibit is a landscape painting titled “Bay View Moonrise,” on loan from Soprafina Gallery in Boston.

“We’re coming together to honor a wonderful man,” said Mitton. “He’s not just a great painter, not just a great teacher, he cares about the progress that his fellow colleagues and his former students make as the years go by.”

Although he has officially retired from teaching, Mitton said Nick has maintained an interest in her work.

“When I have a solo show at a Boston gallery, he’s there. At a New York gallery, he’s there. It’s a wonderful thing to get this kind of feedback from a fellow artist you respect so much,” said Mitton.

“Galvanized Truth” opens May 20 and runs through September 9.

For more information visit the museum’s website at artcomplex.org.