About the Artist

Self-portrait, 1974

William Whalen's career has come to be defined by the three decades he has worked in Vermont, but his artistic development began far away, in his native Illinois. Whalen grew up in Alton, a small town overlooking the Mississippi River. Fine art was not an obvious choice for a young man in Alton, but Whalen's precocious talent and determination led him to Washington University's School of Art, from which he graduated with honors in 1961. Soon after, he was drawn away from the Midwest to the center of the art world, New York. He found a cheap East Village studio and a part-time night job. He spent his days experimenting with different styles of painting and conceptual art.

At work, 1999

In 1971, he moved to Plainfield, Vermont to live and work with acclaimed Bread and Puppet Theater. There he experienced a profound affirmation of his interest in nature, and began to explore and paint it, and left Bread and Puppet to devote himself to painting. Soon after, he developed an interest in intaglio printmaking, and produced numerous etchings of the landscape and people. Since then he has focused mainly on painting, and observes a daily routine of observing nature, and faithfully rendering what he finds in drawings, words and pictures. Whalen, who currently lives in Montpelier, Vermont, has exhibited in numerous galleries, including the Wood Art Gallery, Kristal Gallery, Parade Gallery, Roberts/Kelly Gallery, and the Helen Day Art Center. The body of artwork he has developed in his Vermont years is reverent, contemplative, and as rich as the landscape itself.