Gerald Williams (artist) facts for kids
Gerald Williams is an American artist born in 1941 in Chicago, Illinois. He is known for his important art that helped shape the Black Arts Movement. This movement started in the 1960s and is still important today.
Williams was one of the artists who started a famous group called AfriCOBRA. His art has been shown in major museums around the world. These include the Tate Modern in London and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
Besides being an artist, he also worked for the Peace Corps. He taught in schools in Chicago and Washington, D.C.. He also directed arts and crafts centers for the United States Air Force. In 2015, he moved back to Woodlawn, Chicago, where he grew up. In 2019, he received an honorary doctorate degree in art. He shared this honor with his AfriCOBRA co-founders, Jae Jarrell and Wadsworth A. Jarrell.
Gerald Williams's Education
Williams finished Englewood High School in 1959. After high school, he studied accounting at Roosevelt University in Chicago. He later studied art at Woodrow Wilson Junior College. This school is now called Kennedy-King College. He earned his associate degree in art there.
After serving in the Air Force, he returned to Chicago in 1966. He took night classes at Loop College, now Harold Washington College. He also took drawing and design classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1967, he studied art full-time at Chicago Teachers College. This school is now Chicago State University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969.
In 1973, Williams moved to Washington, D.C.. He joined the graduate program at Howard University. He earned his Masters of Fine Arts degree in painting from Howard in 1976.
Gerald Williams's Early Life and Art Journey
Gerald Williams was born in 1941 on the south side of Chicago. He grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood with 10 brothers and sisters. His father worked in steel mills near Lake Michigan.
In 1963, Williams joined the United States Air Force as an illustrator. He trained in San Antonio, Texas. Then he worked at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington. Later, he moved to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. He finished his military service there.
Williams came back to Chicago in 1966 to finish school. He worked at Northeastern Illinois University. There, he met an artist named Jeff Donaldson. Donaldson invited Williams to join a group of Black artists. They met weekly to talk about art ideas. Williams soon realized another group member, Wadsworth Jarrell, was his studio neighbor.
Over the next few years, Williams, Donaldson, Jarrell, Jae Jarrell, and Barbara J. Jones became the main members of AfriCOBRA. This group became one of the most important Black art movements. By 1970, other artists like Napoleon Henderson and Nelson Stevens also joined.
In 1969, Williams started teaching in Chicago Public Schools. He taught at Bradwell School of Excellence. He later taught at Bryn Mawr Elementary. He left teaching in 1973 to attend Howard University.
While teaching, Williams kept working with AfriCOBRA. The group's discussions helped them create new art. They started showing their art together in exhibitions. Their first show was "AfriCOBRA I: Ten in Search of a Nation." It was held at the Studio Museum in Harlem.
In 1973, Williams left Chicago for 42 years. He moved to Washington, D.C., for his MFA degree. After his MFA, he went to FESTAC 77 in Lagos, Nigeria. This was a big festival of Black and African arts.
A few months after returning from Nigeria, Williams joined the Peace Corps. He went back to Africa. He worked at the Jacaranda School in Nairobi, Kenya. He helped students create handicrafts. These items were sold in a school store and local shops.
Williams finished his Peace Corps work in 1979. He had a solo art show in Nairobi called "Can You Feel the Brand New Day." After Kenya, he traveled to Egypt, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. In Dakar, Senegal, he showed many of his paintings.
He returned to Washington, D.C., and taught in public schools for four years. In 1984, he started directing arts and crafts centers for the Air Force. He worked in South Korea for five years. Then he moved to Yokota Air Base in Japan for three years.
In 1992, he transferred to Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina. In 1996, he moved to Aviano Air Base in Aviano, Italy. This base is run by Italy but hosts the USAF 31st Fighter Wing. In 1999, he transferred back to Shaw AFB. His last transfer was in 2001. He directed the arts and crafts center at Lajes Field in the Azores, Portugal.
In 2005, Williams retired in Sumter, South Carolina. He then focused full-time on his art. In 2015, he moved back to Chicago. He still lives and works there today. In 2016, he took part in a discussion at the University of Chicago. This discussion was filmed and can be seen online.
Gerald Williams's Art Exhibitions and Collections
Williams's art has been shown in many places, both alone and with other artists. His solo shows include exhibitions at Chicago State University and the University of South Carolina. He also had shows in Washington, D.C., Dakar, Senegal, and Nairobi, Kenya.
His art has been part of group shows in famous museums. These include Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power at the Tate Modern in London, England. His work was also in The Freedom Principle show. This show traveled to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
He also showed his work in "AFRICOBRA in Chicago." This was a multi-venue exhibition. It was held at the South Side Community Art Center, the University of Chicago, and the DuSable Museum of African American History.
Williams celebrated 50 years with AfriCOBRA in their anniversary exhibition. This show was at the Kavi-Gupta Gallery in Chicago. It then moved to the North Miami Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). From MOCA, the exhibition was invited to the 58th Venice Biennale.
His art is also in many private and public collections. These include the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. His work is also at the Brooklyn Museum and the DuSable Museum of African American History. The Johnson Publishing Company, which publishes Ebony and Jet magazines, also owns some of his art.
