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Profiles of Courage
WILLIAM BRITT
William is a sixty-nine-year-old accomplished self-taught artist. He currently lives on his own in Stony Point, New York in a house with an art studio. He grew up and lived at the Willowbrook State Hospital in Staten Island for thirty four years. As a young boy he was angry and frustrated and was given paints by a doctor at the hospital to express himself. William found solace in painting and has been a prolific artist since that time. He left Willowbrook in 1974 and moved into a group home in Westchester where he continued to further develop his skills as a still life and landscape painter. William has exhibited his painting in galleries and museums and he is also featured in numerous private collections including Nancy Reagan, Mario Como, George Pataki, Prince Charles and the Emperor of Japan. William is also the recipient of numerous awards including the Kennedy Center Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement.
In his own words, "God gave me the gift of painting when I was young. I like making pictures of nature and landscapes. Autumn is my favorite season to paint. Oil paint is better than acrylic because it doesn't dry too fast. My goal is to sell my paintings and to own my own home."
Selected Exhibition History:
2004 The 12th Annual Outsider Art Fair, New York City
2003 Pure Vision Arts Exhibition, Credit Suisse First Boston, New York City
2003 Art View, Carnegie Institute, Washington, D.C.
1985 The Gallery, Westchester Community College
1984 National Gallery for the Arts, Washington D.C., New York State Representative
1983 "Me and My Imagination," Rockefeller Center, New York
1976 New York State Regional "Very Special Arts Festival"
 The Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation
International Award in Mental Retardation
for Art
"William Britt"
Fancy a distressed solitude, beyond the grasp of
human reason. So far seperate the sounds are like the
noisome clattering of unwelcome guests, and affection
an inexplicable mirage.
Fancy that William Britt lived in such a desolation
from the age of five. The magic of puberty and the malestrom
of adolescence arrived and departed, leaving him locked
behind a door that had no key.
A miracle happened. Divine imagination and
human concern reached into that barren otherness and
claimed Britt as Special. As Artist. He drew on paper,
on wooden boards and finally painted on canvas.
The triumph of William Britt is our triumph.
He is telling us our individual stories; Despite the
ignorance which imprisons us, and the lonliness of
our lives, each of us can be reached and liberated by
Divine Imagination and Human concern.
Greetings to the Special Artist who allows us
all to be special at his side.
By Maya Angelou
Washington D.C
November 17, 1986
The art of William Britt is represented by Pure
Visions Art Studio in Chelsea, New York. Contact
Pam Rogers or Margaret Bodel to learn more about
his art, and the work of many other visionary artists.
Pure Vision Studio: 212-366-4263
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