Bill Wilson
1935 – 2022
My latest collection of paintings, Color in Motion, is dedicated to my dearest friend Bill Wilson.
Bill and I met when I was working on Herd About Buffalo, a public art project between the Burchfield Penney Art Center and Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
Bill and his wife Charlene were an incredible force in helping many artists who had never worked with fiberglass. They would drive from Niagara Falls to Buffalo to mend and help repair the Herd. He was so generous with his time and love for the arts and his family. The first day we met, he said to me…if you need any help, let me know…ha-ha that was the beginning of a great friendship…and he always came prepared with a toolbox. The Buffalo Art Community embraced him with open arms! I loved watching his relationships develop because he was shy at times.
Our friendship grew; we went to gallery openings, day trips, and parties at my home and Crystal Beach. I’d help him fill in his applications because I pushed him as well to enter exhibitions, which he was usually accepted into.
I miss his phone calls, we’d critique every artist exhibition we saw together, and I’d tell him he was like an old lady…I must get back to work now, Wilson. Stop talking! Lol, he’d giggle each time…he truly was a gentle soul and a very dear friend!!!
He and Charlene helped me so much during the period of my recovery. They never asked if I needed help. They’d just show up.
He wanted me to stop sitting on so many boards and start painting…we had many heart-to-heart conversations, and he felt it was my time to express and promote myself and start painting again.
He critiqued my work constantly and helped me grow. He was thrilled when I finally opened a studio.
Bill showed up at my studio five weeks before he passed, and we discussed doing an exhibit together; the Carnegie Art Center show was supposed to be something we had talked about for many years. Doing it together, I would do my Abstract Paintings, and Bill would do his sculptures.
I heard the heart-breaking news just five weeks later my dearest friend and mentor had passed.
Bill, this show is for you!! I miss you every day!! I know my tears would upset you. You’d tell me to stop crying and start painting…well, this one is for you, my dear buddy!!
I love and miss you, and I will keep your memory alive!!
RIP
Love, Mary Joy
Niagara Falls native Bill Wilson was an accomplished artist. His prize-winning works have made their way into museums, galleries, and private collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Canada. The diversity of his work can be seen in various media, such as Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museums, The Homer Watson Art Museum, jewelry lines for Wedgewood of England, International Silver Company, and Blue Mountain Pottery of Collingwood, Ontario.
He studied painting at Niagara County Community College. He then took up an apprenticeship under noted Canadian portrait painter Thomas Cayley. After establishing himself as a prize-winning painter, he then started sculpting. Sculpture soon became Wilson’s forte. He studied portrait sculpture under Professor Paul Atkins at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He enhanced his mold-making skills at the Polytech Institute in Lebanon, New Jersey.
Wilson taught drawing related to sculpture at Niagara University and demonstrated sculpture technique in all sculpture mediums to various art groups. He served for eighteen years as President of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Art Society. He has been included in the “Who’s Who in America” for his sculptures. As a volunteer, he generously donated his time and artwork to several regional nonprofit groups for fundraising. Wilson was especially pleased to be chosen as the recipient of the Millicent Heller “Volunteer of the Year Award,” given by the Burchfield Penney Art Center.
Bill Wilson was commissioned to create sculptures for the Snapple Tea Company in New York, NY, WNED, TV Channel 17 in Buffalo, NY, and the Sisters of Mercy in Buffalo, NY.
Some of his commissions also include Large Outdoor Sculptures for the Star Point School Courtyard and the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center. He has also created several pieces for private collections.