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A Conversation with Bernard Williams
February 29 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
A Bernard Williams’ painting, Black Cowboy – Bill Pickett, holds a prominent place in the Eiteljorg Museum’s Art of the American West Galleries and in the hearts of many museum visitors, staff, and volunteers.
Join us for this special opportunity for a conversation with the artist Bernard Williams; hear about his inspiration for the piece (and series), his decades-long career, and his current projects. Johanna Blume, curator of Western art, history, and culture, will moderate the conversation.
About Bernard:
Bernard Williams is an established artist based in Chicago, IL and working in painting, sculpture, installation, and public art. He holds a BFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MFA from Northwestern University. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the U.S., and has been represented by the N’Namdi Gallery in Detroit, the Thomas McCormick Gallery in Chicago, and the Ethan Cohen Gallery in New York. Williams has received recognition both regionally and nationally, including grants from the Illinois Arts Council, Artadia in New York in 2001, The Meier Foundation in Chicago in 2013, and The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation in New York in 2015. He has completed artist residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, The Fine Arts WorkCenter in Provincetown, MA., and the International Studio and Curatorial Program in New York in 2013.
The artist began painting outdoor murals in the early 1990’s with the Chicago Public Art Group. While continuing with CPAG, Williams has added outdoor sculpture to his practice. In recents years he has created several outdoor steel sculptures in Chicago, and completed the Black Tractor Project at the Arts Club of Chicago 2019. In November 2020-May 2021 he debuted a large sculptural work in the “Long Dream” group exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. In 2022 the artist installed a large outdoor steel sculpture commission celebrating the African-American suffragette, Naomi Anderson, in Michigan City, Indiana. In 2023, the artist will install steel sculptures at the Nate (Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park) at Govenors State University in University Park, IL., and also in Dallas, Texas.
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