When you make art, you participate in the process of transformation. Artistic activity allows each of us to engage in the most profound universal activity: creation. At the same time, we are able to experience the most basic childhood impulse: play.
Everyone has the ability to express themself artistically. Everyone has the right to find joy, wonder and a sense of discovery through their own artistic creation. We promise to do our best to help everyone experience art in a way that enriches their life.
Mission
The mission of the Williamson Street Art Center is to use artistic activity as a means of offering inspiration, which in turn facilitates the growth of the creative spirit.
As an organization, the Willy St Art Center continues to serve as a hub of artistic activity. Once reaching into the larger community through artist-in-residency programs and community arts projects, Sharon continues to serve as an advisor to arts programs and a mentor to artists.
As an art school, the Willy St Art Center supported individual and collective artistic expression. Sharon encouraged her students to explore material, form, content, connection, and approach – and was never happier than those times when students picked up trash on Willy St and brought it into the center to turn into art.
Vision
The vision of the Williamson Street Art Center continues to be a place where people return for inspiration, stimulation, and renewal.
As Sharon readies the house for periodic visits from the public, the gardens remain open to all. You can first discover art in the form of colorful paintings, found art sculpture and a mosaic wall in the front garden. Then, feel free to wander amid the gardens and ponds in back. At the rear of the property you will come upon the studio, partially hidden by trees, and marvel at the murals covering all four sides of the building. Enjoy the large-scale mosaic works, installed by Sharon during the COVID summers of 2020 and 2021.
May your visit to the Williamson Street Art Center brighten your day and enrich your life. You have discovered an oasis on Williamson Street. We hope that you carry this experience of art with you into other areas of your life.
Artistic Process of an Individual Artist
Sharon describes her individual artistic process as:
“First, an INSPIRATION, an EXPERIENCE, or SOMETHING I’VE SEEN IN THE WORLD is transformed into a VISION, a CREATION, or a DISTILLATION that is crystalized through art. Often I visualize the art through dreams. In other words, I can see it in my mind’s eye before it is crystalized – or before I make it. Once the art is made, then an impulse to SHARE the art, or TEACH others how to make it, or INSPIRE others to make art arises in me and is manifested – and the cycle begins anew.”
Artistic Process of a Community Artist
Sharon describes the artistic process of a community artist as:
“In some ways, the artistic process of a community artist is diametrically opposed to that of an individual artist. The community artist’s job is to serve as a conduit for the hopes, dreams, and expressions of other people. The community artist helps give voice to the community through the artist’s organizational skills, their artistic skills, their ability to inspire and their ability to listen. Best achieved when their own artistic impulses are put aside, the community artist proceeds with no preconceived ideas of what the resulting work will look like.
“When community artists work with members of a community to make murals or other community art, they co-create beauty. However, they do so much more than that – they help make communities healthy places where inhabitants can thrive and do well. They serve as conduits for community members to find and express their voices, collaborate with their neighbors and engage in hands-on hard-work that results in tangible evidence that they – and their place in the world – matter.”