From Prison to Portraits: Painting a New Future

Open to UWM students, staff and faculty

Originally from St Louis, Willie dropped out of high school to join the military.  After he returned from military duty, his circumstances led him to prison for 40 years. In prison he received his GED and began to study Black History, Art History and Art Theory.  Learning from an artist he met in prison he began to paint.  Today, Willie has 2,500 to 3,000 paintings in his attic studio in Sherman Park, with many others in a California gallery. He has been working towards his Bachelor’s degree in Business and Entrepreneurship.  In 2016, he entered a national art contest for his work “Thank you for seeing me as a veteran and not a homeless man.”  Willie won this competition.  Currently, he is working third shift at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center painting murals.