BIO

• born Washington, D.C

• undergraduate studies in painting, drawing, printmaking, art history, design, sculpture and ceramics; BFA – Alfred University, College of Ceramics, 1976

• 1976 – 1979: set up and maintained a pottery studio in upstate N.Y., selling work through galleries and craft shows. I taught ceramic classes periodically at the Chautauqua Institution and the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester

•  a developing interest in eating and paying bills regularly prompted a return to the Washington area in late 1979. Continued work in ceramics on a part-time basis while the below unfolded

• 1979 – 1981: part-time Museum Assistant at the Phillips Collection

• 1980 – 1982: Smithsonian American Art Museum (formerly the National Collection of Fine Arts) and Renwick Gallery, Design Department, art installation

• 1982 – 1985: National Gallery of Art, Office of the Registrar, art installation

• 1985 – 2009: National Gallery of Art, Design Department, Project Coordinator for Special Exhibitions and Mountmaker. Retired from the NGA in April, 2009

• Over the years I have exhibited my work in a number of art exhibitions. Most notably in 1988, I was one of a three-person exhibition at the Arlington Art Center and another in the mid-1990s at the now-closed Art Barn in Rock Creek Park.

• 2009-present: I have been maintaining a regular studio practice and have had bi-annual exhibitions/sales at my home.

I also provide mount making, design and installation services on a contract basis through my business, William R. Bowser Art & Art Services. Among my clients since 2009 are:

  • Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian
  • National Gallery of Art through Artex Fine Art Services
  • Riverside Metropolitan Museum & Riverside Art Museum, CA
  • National Park Service, Chaco Canyon Historical Park, NM
  • Yale University Art Gallery, 3 sub-contracts
  • Private Collectors
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