projects

peace of me.

An exhibit of 12 ft sheered eyeglasses. The notion of play, intersection and object in scale, repetition. Iconic shapes intersected or manipulated against our normal understanding of their usefulness.
2018

Wild Geese

2018
Mural Concept

Based on "Wild Geese" by Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Mary Oliver.

"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things."

The Corporate Ladder

2018
25 ft x 8 ft x 6 inches
Aluminum and Wood

FEATURED PROJECT : 800,000 Acknowledge. Remember. Renew.

2004 - 2006

April 2014. UN Headquarters. NY, NY.

800,000, about the Rwandan genocide, is a meticulously rendered installation featuring hundreds of thousands of hand prints, provided by the participants and, bound into hundreds of hand sewn books which reside in coffin like boxes. This artist is willing to devote resources to the needs of others and to raise awareness around a difficult issue in a selfless manner. Equally as difficult is it to find an artist who not only has the true interests of the community he is serving in mind but is sensitive to the needs of that community and responds in an effective manner.

Lonnie Graham - Professor, Penn State School of Visual Arts

Visit Project Website

This installation is available for display. Please contact the artist for exhibition inquiries.

Bedford County Fair Mural

2018

A 2000 sq ft mural located on the the I-99 underpass of Route 30 in Bedford, PA.
The mural celebrates the vibrant life of the county fair and its 144 year history.

New Day Rooster Series

2017

Roosters call us to a new day. Are you seeing new opportunity, or entering a new season either personally or professionally?

I know I am. 2017 began with a bang. These drawings are a playful reminder of this "new day."

View full series at KATE & HERMAN

Untitled Necktie

2017 - Mural Concept

I've been making ties lately. Small fused glass versions. Large and small wooden ones. Others in steel and aluminum.

But, what's in a tie? The history of the necktie, stemming from this 17th century neck decor, moving to military regiment demarkation, then high-class, power business garb, then somewhat fading away, though still a sign of 'dignity,' marks the ambling path of style.

I recall the days I made the choice to wear ties. I looked to take myself a bit more seriously, and began to define myself, stylistically, with this icon. It didn't help me age, but it helped me mentally age. Granted, there are still those young guys who seem ridiculous in a tie... shirt wrinkly, pretty much totally unkempt... save that they're wearing a tie. But, as I reflect on the impact donning a tie had on me, it makes me wonder why others wear ties. For access? For a job? Because you have to? Because you think you have to? Is it an act? Or is it 'you'? The adage, 'perception is reality' comes to mind. Some might view wearing a tie as succumbing to 'the system.'
Costume vs reality. The wearing of a costume to 'portray' an idea of oneself helps us become the version of ourselves we want to be. We take on that 'role,' however it is still our life... our reality.

It may be the simple thing of wearing a tie... but it helped me look at my life differently. Shifting that small action... The choice to wear a tie or not.
Changing neighborhoods...So, follow me here... Given the mindset shift that can happen from wearing a tie, I began to think about depressed neighborhoods, blighted regions; and wondered what conversation could be stirred up about self identity, or rather regional identity, and what sort of 'necktie' could help cause a regional, self-perception shift.
I haven't settled on an answer, but simply want to begin this conversation... and get your take on neckties.

Feel free to share your necktie story, I'd love to hear it. Did it change you? Are you adamantly against wearing ties? Is not wearing a tie some sort of retirement rite.

Save 144

STATE COLLEGE, PA, 2016

In collaboration with Marisa Vicere and the Jana Marie Foundation, the artist completed this installation of 144 balloons on the side of a parking deck, representing the estimated deaths by suicide across PA during the month of September. September has been dubbed Suicide Prevention Month. This piece called attention to the fragility of life, that once air is gone, the life is lost.

It was later found that a suicide was prevented the night prior to this installation on this very parking deck.

Media Coverage:
The Daily Collegian
State College.com

#BigVespa

2014

The Blue Rider

2016

William began a series of Vespa artwork and sculptures in 2014. These two similar sculptures are 16' tall aluminum pop versions of the face of the scooter.

View More at BigVespa.com

Happy Valley Optical, 2015

Mongoose

Dandelions

Started in 2013

14' tall, stainless steel and laser cut acrylic dandelions.

Imagine

Tyrone, PA, 2013

This mural was a part of the Joshua House community day projects. William world with the Tyrone-Snyder Library board of directors to approve the image, and instructed the group of teens lead by Tommie Murray to paint the mural.

"Mr. Snyder worked on a mural project for the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library with teenagers from a community service day camp at Joshua House. He was very receptive to suggestions from library staff and trustees for the project, and with the collaboration of the kids in the camp and their counselor, he completed an amazing, vibrant mural for our children's room in just one week. His artwork completely transformed the children's room in our library, and made it extra special for the families that visit the library."
Jessica Ford Cameron
Library Director
Tyrone-Snyder Public Library

10,000 Daffodils

2009 installation concept
10,000 die-cut, daffodil shaped notecards.

The poem Daffodils by William Wordsworth has always stuck with me. I was moved by the final notion of visual impact, and the importance of seeing and absorbing to recall and reflect.

I also am delighted by the sense that 10,000 daffodils in his poem is some infinite quantity, and yet the actual size of 10,000 daffodils is containable.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Revolving Doors

2003 -

We are unknowingly defined and bound by the actions of others.

A system of containment. Each door is connected to one other. As viewers move through the space, they may be locked in others depending on the actions of others.