William H. Wilson

Wilson, William H. GHENT William "Bill" Harlow Wilson, 82, son of the late Harry and Gladys Wilson, passed away on Sunday, October 6, 2013 from complications related to Parkinson's disease. Bill was an artist, painter, sculptor, builder and professor, and will be remembered for his bottomless well of creativity and life of making art. Born in 1931 in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, Bill completed his bachelor's at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg Va., and a MFA in painting at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. He had solo art exhibitions at galleries in Albany, Woodstock, New York City, Miami, Fla., Palm Beach Fla., Park City, Utah, Taipei, Taiwan, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (where he spent many winters). Bill was professor of art at SUNY Albany from 1959 until 1994, was chairman of the Art Department from 1985 to 1994, and remained emeritus faculty until his death. After completing his undergraduate studies, he spent three years in the South Pacific working, painting and sailing his own boat, ending in shipwreck on a reef and the source of many exotic seafaring tails. Bill met Freda Chalcraft in New Zealand and their first child, Roberta, was born in Fiji in 1956. Following his graduate studies, they moved to Voorheesville, beginning his long teaching career at SUNY Albany and raising three children with Freda. In addition to painting and sculpture, Bill designed and built six houses in his lifetime, which themselves were works of art unconventional, nestled into the landscape, and built of natural materials in the spirit of Frank Lloyd Wright. Bill is survived by his first former wife, Freda Chalcraft Korte (Karl Korte), with whom he maintained a life-long friendship; their children, Roberta Wilson, Roderick Wilson, and Laurence Wilson (Alida Crisafulli); and grandchildren, Anika, Tanya, Lauren, Hannah, and Tristan Wilson. He is also survived by a dear extended family, Frank Mendelson, Linda Andersen and his former second wife Bettina Wilson. Bill was Buddhist and lived a gentle lifestyle that included periodic meditative retreats. He and his art were one unique, unabashed and beautifully provocative. A service for friends and family will be announced at a later date.