With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Wayland Wells Williams
Education/Curation, Patronage, Fiction
1888 – 1945
- Biography/Description of Work
Williams, a son and brother of Yale University professors, was on the staff at the Yale University Art Gallery and became voluntary state director of the WPA Federal Art Project in the 1930s, following Theodore Sizer. He studied art under John Ferguson Weir at the Yale School of Fine Arts and was a member of the New Haven Paint and Clay Club. However he is more widely remembered for his work as an author: ‘The Whirligig of Time,’‘Goshen Street,’ and ‘The Seafarers.’ Williams also collected works by Connecticut artists, now in the collection of the Lyman Allyn Museum of Art.
- Sources view
- Uconn database, http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/HLTransformer/HLTransServlet?stylename=yul.ead2002.xhtml.xsl&pid=beinecke:williamsww&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes, Wayland Wells Williams Article - New York Times - 1923-4-1, Wayland Wells Williams Obituary - New York Times - 1945-5-8, Wayland Wells Williams Poetry - New York Times - 1924-5-4
- Associated Resource(s)