Bill Childs at 90: Celebrating a lifetime of art in Exeter

EXETER — Celebrate the artistic journey of Exeter’s own Bill Childs with “Bill Childs at 90: A Retrospective,” showcasing over 40 of his paintings.

This special exhibit at the Town Hall honors his 90th birthday and his many years of creating and teaching art. Most of the paintings will be available for purchase, with a portion of the sales benefiting the Seacoast Artist Association’s scholarship fund.

An opening session will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, with live jazz music by Cinnamon Blomquist on flute and guitarist Gary Smith.

The exhibit will be open for two weekends, Sept. 7-8 and Sept. 14-15, from 12-5 p.m., and on Sept. 13 from 4-6 p.m.

Additionally, the Seacoast Artist Association’s gallery on Water Street will host their regular Second Friday reception on Sept. 13 from 5-7 p.m., featuring refreshments and music by Carol Coronis on cittern and vocals. Patrons who miss the opening reception can visit early on the Second Friday at 4 p.m. and then head to the gallery for a glass of wine and more local artwork.

Bill Childs attended Barnstable High School in Hyannis, where he was taught by the accomplished mural painter Vernon Herbert Coleman, known for creating over 100 murals for the WPA. Bill had the opportunity to apprentice with Coleman on several projects, including a mural in a furniture store depicting a New Hampshire landscape.

“After high school, I used to come home weekends from Boston and in my spare time work with him on murals all around Cape Cod," he said. "He used to let me do a lot of the underpainting before he did the finish work. There is a mural of the Exeter Falls across from the Seacoast Artist Association gallery in the Edward Jones office that he did for them that is of the type that I worked on with him.”

Growing up on Cape Cod, Bill developed a deep appreciation for the ocean and dunes at its beaches. After relocating to the Seacoast of New Hampshire, he expanded his artistic repertoire to include marshes and nearby islands. Bill graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art and accepted an art teaching position 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 spent fifteen years as part of a three-member faculty team teaching a multi-disciplinary humanities course, American Studies, alongside Alex Herlihy and the late Elizabeth Whaley. Throughout and beyond his 40-year teaching career, 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 has been a member of the NH Art Association in Portsmouth where he was on their hanging committee for many years.

View more of his work at the Seacoast Artist Association and at A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words, both on Water Street in downtown Exeter. The SAA is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. See more at seacoastartist.org and follow them on Facebook and Instagram. Email them at gallery@seacoastartist.org for more information.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Bill Childs at 90: Celebrating a lifetime of art in Exeter