William was born in Marietta, Ohio. In college he majored in fine arts and theatre set design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh,PA. He has had a total of fifty years in the Performing Arts with 10 of those teaching design at Castleton State College, Mount Holyoke College and CarnegieMellon University. He has worked at all the major studios including ABC, NBC,HBO, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. His designs have contributed to some of the early Stephen Spielberg films, including Poltergeist, E.T., Gremlins and Innerspace. For seasons 8, 9 and 10, William was Production Designer for AaronSpelling’s Beverly Hills 90291. He has designed sets for Cheaper by the Dozen starring Steve Martin and Art Direction for Forgetting Sarah Marshall, produced by Judd Apatow. For three seasons he designed an international look for the sets on ABC’s Lost. He created Iraq, Berlin and Kansas all constructed on theIsland of Oahu. His most recent set designs can be seen on Netflix’s 2017western, “Godless.”
At The Gallery of Functional Art at Bergamot Station inSanta Monica, CA he combined his theatrical experience with his fine arts training in painting, collage and assemblage creating original visualizations based on the prose and poetry of the Nobel Prize winning Chilean poet, PabloNeruda. Along with his wife, Diana Folsom, he based new work at GFA on the plays and poems of William Shakespeare. His work included sixteen wooden boxes to be arranged as large children’s blocks to provide settings and performance areas for various scenes from Shakespeare’s plays. The concept was based on a touring show for public schools, thus its title “Road Show.”
William created an installation at his Exposition Ave.studio in LA - a labyrinth of rooms representing a universe of Nerudian elements relating to the earth, sea and sky. At the heart of these rooms, which were both architectural and sculptural, was a visual play on everyday existence and the larger implications of Neruda’s joy and fascination of this planetEarth. The installation echoed the politics that occurred in Chile during the tumultuous last year of Pablo Neruda’s life. William is currently planning an updated version of this project. In 2014 William started a theatrical play based on the poetry of Pablo Neruda called, “Still, I am here.”
The classical guitar is a favorite musical instrument andWilliam has a fine collection of them. He designed and created guitar stands based of famous artists, Pablo Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein and RobertRauschenberg among others.
Recently he has returned to chair sculptures based on theNeruda poem, “Ode to the Chair.” These chair assemblages consist of found chairs with functional elements based on artists and practical themes.
This Feb. 2019 William was awarded a Lifetime Achievement from the Art Director’s Local 800, IATSE, for his contribution to Film and TV set designs.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts -Theatre Design - Carnegie Institute of Technology
Master of Fine Arts - Theatre Design - Carnegie-Mellon University
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Castleton State College
Mount Holyoke College
Carnegie-Mellon University
ART EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS
2009- Gallery Western,“Worldwide NewYear Show,” Los Angeles, Ca.
2007- Gallery of Functional Art, “As dreams are made on…,” Santa Monica, Ca
2006- DoubleVision Gallery, “Night Trains,” Los Angeles, Ca.
Petterson’s Gallery, Venice, Ca. “Image Imaginare”
Gallery 825- Los Angeles, Ca. Member and exhibitor.
Angels Gate Cultural Center, group show, San Pedro, Ca.
Orange County Museum of Art, group show, Newport, Ca.
Patricia Correia Gallery, “Artists for Barbara Boxer Fundraiser,” Bergamot Station, Santa Monica,Ca.
The Gallery of Functional Art, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, Ca.
1996- “The Art of the Chair”
1997- “I have a love of things”
1998- “twenty chairs of love and two roses of desperation”
The Venice Art Walk- various works based on Pablo Neruda poetry, ’97 &’98
BGH Gallery, “2000” Exhibit –various new collages
Freehand Gallery-8413 W.Third St., Los Angeles, Ca. Still life pencil Drawings & Collages.
Check Out William's Full Resume