EXETER – Celebrate the artistic journey of Exeter artist Bill Childs with “Bill Childs at 90: A Retrospective,” featuring over 40 of his paintings.
This special exhibition at City Hall honors his 90th birthday and his many years as an artist and teacher. Most of the paintings are available for purchase, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Seacoast Artist Association scholarship fund.
An opening session will be held on Friday, September 6, from 5-7 p.m., featuring live jazz music from Cinnamon Blomquist on flute and guitarist Gary Smith.
The exhibition is open on two weekends: on 7/8 September and 14/15 September from 12 to 5 p.m. and on 13 September from 4 to 6 p.m.
In addition, the Seacoast Artist Association Gallery on Water Street will host its regular Second Friday reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on September 13, featuring refreshments and music by Carol Coronis on cittern and vocals. Visitors who miss the opening reception can come as early as 4 p.m. on the Second Friday and then head to the gallery to enjoy a glass of wine and more local artwork.
Bill Childs attended Barnstable High School in Hyannis, where he was taught by accomplished muralist Vernon Herbert Coleman, known for creating over 100 murals for the WPA. Bill had the opportunity to apprentice under Coleman on several projects, including a mural in a furniture store depicting a New Hampshire landscape.
“After high school, I would come home from Boston on weekends and work with him in my spare time on murals around Cape Cod,” he said. “He would often have me do the underpainting before he did the finishing work. Across from the Seacoast Artist Association gallery in Edward Jones’ office, there is a mural of Exeter Falls that he did for them that is the kind I worked on with him.”
Growing up on Cape Cod, Bill developed a deep appreciation for the ocean and dunes on the beaches. After moving to coastal New Hampshire, he expanded his artistic repertoire to include marshes and nearby islands. Bill graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and took a job teaching art in southern New Hampshire, with a break for service in the U.S. Army. He then taught at Oyster River High School in Durham for 30 years. During his tenure, he taught a multidisciplinary humanities course, American Studies, for 15 years as part of a three-person teaching team with Alex Herlihy and the late Elizabeth Whaley. Throughout his 40 years of teaching and beyond, Bill never stopped painting.
Bill has mentored many local artists and art teachers. He is currently an exhibiting member of the Seacoast Artist Association in Exeter and was a member of the NH Art Association in Portsmouth where he served on the hanging committee for many years.
You can find more of his work at the Seacoast Artist Association and A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words, both on Water Street in downtown Exeter. The SAA is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit seacoastartist.org. Also follow them on Facebook and Instagram. Email them at [email protected] for more information.
