“Artists cannot help themselves; they are driven to create by their nature, but for that nature to truly thrive, we need to preserve the precious habitat in which that beauty can flourish.” William Morris

For more than twenty years, William Morris has captivated and intrigued the art community with hauntingly evocative and beautiful glass sculptures. He has captured the imagination time and again by creating objects that appear to be ancient stone or wood carvings, not the modern glass sculptures they actually are. His art speaks of human origins, myth, ancestry, and ancient civilizations. It symbolizes a harmony between humanity and nature and provides a ghost-like bond to the world around us - a world that is often forgotten, ignored, and abused.

Morris gathers much of his inspiration from ancient cultures from around the world - Egyptian, Asian, Native American - all peoples who respected and admired the land they inhabited. Because of this, Morris's artwork has become something all its own: culturally distinct and yet familiar to all cultures. His pieces embody a spiritual quality that sharply contrasts old beliefs with those of the modern world. These objects speak to our senses and continuously beg us to explore them further.

ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT As published in American Craft magazine (June/July 2007) William Morris sent an upbeat, gracious letter to his various dealers this spring, announcing his retirement. This was startling news for the glass world, coming as it did from a critically acclaimed sculptor at the peak of his career. What's more, he'd gotten famous so young, in his 20s, that the thought of a wunderkind retiring, even one who had outgrown the label, seemed incongruous.
Was anything wrong? Not at all, according to Morris, who turns 50 on July 25: he simply finds himself in the happy position of being ready and able to change direction, having blown glass full time for 30 years. "It's something I've been thinking about for a long time," he said, reached at his home in Hawaii (he also has cabins in Washington State, near his son, a violinist, and daughter, a dancer.) "It didn't happen through any trauma, or injury, or depression, or anything. I didn't want to have a reason. That was the reason."

After decades of 'Type A' work and lifestyle, he's enjoying "being away from the structure and discipline of making work, running a shop, being 'on.' Right now I have no plan, and it feels pretty good. I've got to figure out a new way to live - and what fun that'll be." He's been surfing, diving, paddling and paragliding; he's carved wood for fun, and images he'll always make things, just not for sale.

Success was "absolutely amazing, a complete blessing. It's a strange thing to walk away from, I'll tell you," said Morris. He was a 'dumpster-diving' art student when he took a job driving a truck at the Pilchuck Glass School in 1977; soon he was working as chief gaffer for its founder, Dale Chihuly (who became a mentor and close friend), and from then on Pilchuck was his creative base.

His advice to young artists? "If you love it, let it drive and direct you. And be disciplined about it. Show up." Parting words? Just that he's "tremendously grateful" to the art world in general and glass community in particular for their support over the years: "It has given me a confidence and freedom that's unbelievable."

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
American Craft Museum, New York
Auckland Museum, Aukland, New Zealand
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wl
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
Daiichi Museum, Nagoya, Japan
Davis Wright Tremaine, Seattle, WA
The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH
Delta Airlines, Portland, OR
The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Edmonds Arts Commission, Edmonds, WA
First Union Bank, Charlotte, NO
Florida National Collection, Florida National Bank, Jacksonville, FL
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan
Hunter Museum, Chattanooga, TN
IBM Corporation, Tulsa, OK
J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
The Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NB
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
McDonald's Corporation, Oakbrook, IL and Bellevue, WA
Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wl
Missoula Museum of the Arts, Missoula, MT
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France
Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
Museum of American Glass, Millville, New Jersey
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rl
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX
Niijima Contemporary Glass Art Museum, Niijima, Japan
Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, FL
Pilchuck Collection, Stanwood, WA
Port of Seattle, WA
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
Rockefeller Center, New York, NY
Royal College of Art, London, England
Safeco Insurance Company, Seattle, WA
Seattle-First National Bank Collection, Seattle, WA
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle, WA
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Permanent Installation, Seattle, WA
Security Pacific Collection, Security Pacific Bank, Seattle, WA
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
Sheraton Seattle Hotel and Towers Collection, Seattle, WA
Shimonoseki City Art Museum, Shimonoseki, Japan
Smithsonian Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC
State Foundation of Culture in the Arts, Honolulu, HI
State of Oregon Public Services Building, Portland, OR
The Pilchuck Glass Collection at City Centre and US Bank Center, Seattle, WA
The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
Toyota USA, Corporate Retreat, Hilo, HI
UPS Corporate Collection, Louisville, KY
United Airlines, San Francisco, CA
University of Michigan, Dearborn, MI
U.S. News and World Report, Washington, DC
The Valley National Bank of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT
Westin Hotel, San Francisco, CA

TEACHING EXPERIENCES LECTURES
Artist's Lecture, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX
Artist's Lecture, Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, NC
Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA
Artist's Lecture, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
Artist's Lecture, The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ
The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
The Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT
Cal Poly University, San Luis Obispo, CA
Artist's Lecture, The Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
"Pacific Light Conference" Guest Artist, Auckland, New Zealand
"Artifacts of Common Ceremony", Lecture, Museum of Northwest Art, LaConner, WA
G.A.S. Conference, Featured Speaker, Tucson, AZ
Chrysler Museum, Nail American Glass Club, Featured Speaker, Norfolk, VA
Passion Afire, Featured Speaker, Sponsored by the Pilchuck Glass School, City
Centre and Metropolitan Home Magazine, Seattle, WA
"SOFA", Featured Speaker, Miami, FL
Artists Lecture, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
Niijima Art Glass Center, Tokyo, Japan
"The Art of Glass", Seminar, The Bon Marche, Seattle, WA
Creative Glass Center of America, Demonstrating Artist at Glassweekend *93,
Wheaton Village, Millville, NJ
Niijima Art Glass Center, Tokyo, Japan
California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina
Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, TN
New Zealand Society of Artists in Glass, Aukland, New Zealand
Canadian Glass Art Society Symposium, Toronto, Canada
Creative Glass Center of America, Wheaton Village, Millville, NJ
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Art Glass Academy, Vienna, Austria
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
New York Experimental Glass Workshop, New York, NY
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rl
Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
Summervail Workshops, Vail, CO
New York Experimental Glass Workshop, New York, NY
Fire Island, Austin, TX
Renaissance Glass, Austin, TX
Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, TN
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
Harbor Front Studios, Toronto, Canada
New York Experimental Glass Workshop, New York, NY
Orrefors Glass Studio, Orrefors, Sweden
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rl
Present Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA
Amsterdam College of Art, Amsterdam, Holland
Royal College of Art, London, England
Lobrnyer Studio, Vienna, Austria
Royal College of Art, London, England
Lobrnyer Studio, Vienna, Austria
Alberta College of Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada