Over 150 art students, connoisseurs, and fans gathered in the Scott Center on Sunday, February 8, 2004 for "A Compassionate Brush: Hiram Williams Remembered." The retrospective exhibition, of works drawn from the college's collection, honored the painter who died last year after a prolific career.

Maggie Ball, associate professor of art and curator of collections at the college, said Williams "painted the human experience with a provocative stroke and a compassionate heart, revealing our imperfections yet reminding us, all the while, of that which is greater than our human flesh. He embodied the great and courageous spirit of his precious Audience, the name he gave to us all as a collective whole."

All of us, as Audience, are "spectators of our fate" according to Williams. As he explained in his journal, "We alone among animals are aware of our mortality...There is considerable joy in recognizing our fate, the absurdity of life and how we, Audience, seek to create meaning in a hopeless situation. It takes courage to do this!"

While some of his paintings portrayed existential man, running away, anxious, jittery, stretched, and guilt-ridden, Williams was essentially an optimist: "I truly believe if humankind were to give up superstition and face the facts of our existence we could, conceivably, become closer to one another...It is up to ourselves to give us meaning: by healthy engagement with the natural world and by daily appreciation of what we call its beauties and horrors. Audience can do more than wait."

Robert A. Larson, Ph.D., presented a lecture on Williams' art in the Scott Center art studio. Dr. Larson is author of Hiram Williams: Images of Compassion (1998).

Hiram and his wife Avonell donated 171 art works to the college. His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Corcoran Gallery, and the Smithsonian, among others.

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