William Willis (artist)

William Willis (born 1943) is an American abstract painter.
Biography.
Willis was born in 1943 in Sheffield, Alabama. He lives on the coast of Maryland, and works in Washington, D.C. He usually makes paintings and works on paper in muted colors as abstractions of the natural world. Eastern philosophy and religion influenced his work in the 1980s. In Washington, D.C., Willis exhibited a dozen years of his work at the Phillips Collection in 1989 and also taught at the Corcoran School of Art.
Education.
Willis received a BA in studio art and an MFA in painting from the University of South Florida, Tampa. In 2010 he was appointed to a five-year professorship as William S. Morris Eminent Scholar in Art at Augusta State University.
Recognition.
He has received awards and grants from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Vermont Studio Center, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, the University of Maryland, and the Maryland State Arts Council.