Bill Rutherford Studio
1828 W. 18th St. N.. #1016
Wichita, KS 67203-2269
ph: 316-832-9544
wrutherf
Bill had the good fortune to be raised in Highland Park, Illinois, a city, along with its neighboring suburbs, which was blessed with beautiful architecture. Sunday drives often wound along the lakefront where spacious residences, from Art Deco to Victorian and every “Revival” imaginable, stood proudly. Four years at Gettysburg College also served to instill in him an immutable sense of history and preservation, intensifying those earlier recollections.
In the 1960s, Bill was impressed by Alexander Calder’s mobiles, and tried his hand at creating a few until it occurred to him that he was just copying a master. He worked in stained glass for a while after his wife, Cynthia, gave him a soldering gun one Christmas, at which time she also enrolled him in the American Craft Council. In 1965, Bill saw an exhibit at the Wichita Art Museum entitled “Toys for Grown Ups” that included a 55 gallon drum painted orange, lavender, and pink that went “clunk” when turned by a crank. This caught his eye and his imagination, and he set to work on his own kinetic pieces immediately, and by February, 1966, was accepted into his first national, juried exhibit. Whimsical flying machines, ornithopters, kinetic toys made from tin cans of all sizes, “Blooming Idiots,” some in pink, orange and lavender, appeared from his kitchen table where he often worked through the night.
Bill has been an active and motivating force in the art world of Wichita, among other things the Director of the Wichita Arts Council for five years.
Then in 2005, Bill returned to creating brass and copper replicas of residential and commercial properties alike. He considers this the most satisfying work of his entire career.
Copyright 2013 Bill Rutherford Studio. All rights reserved.
Bill Rutherford Studio
1828 W. 18th St. N.. #1016
Wichita, KS 67203-2269
ph: 316-832-9544
wrutherf