WILLIAM BERRA BIOGRAPHY

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William Berra was born in York, Pennsylvania, the youngest of three children. His interest in art started in grade school and continued to thrive throughout high school. Rather than following the usual course of study, Berra was fortunate to attend the York Academy his junior and senior years. He then attended the Maryland Institute of Fine Arts in Baltimore, where he experimented briefly with abstract expressionism and non-objective painting. He discontinued his course of study at the Institute to follow a path of his own choosing, working in a more traditional manner and plein air painting. Berra takes satisfaction in having cultivated his own style of painting.

William Berra's subject matter ranges from the Western desert to Avignon, France to the American seashore. His work is strongly influenced by the Italian Macchiaioli School of the 1850's. He is equally comfortable and artistically accomplished with large canvases as well as miniatures.

Berra's work  has been shown in over 40 competitions and shows, including group and solo exhibitions. His paintings have been exhibited extensively in the United States and are represented in private and public collections around the world, including Taiwan, Spain, the U.S. State Department, Bell South, and the University of Texas.

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

2003, 2002 United States State Department Arts in Embassies Program

Landscape for the United States Embassy at the Vatican

Bell South Services, Inc., Birmingham, AL

Republic of China (Taiwan).  Gift of two paintings from Governor Gary Carruthers of New Mexico

Santa Fe de la Vega, Granada, Spain. Gift of one painting to the city from the city of Santa Fe, NM

Southern California Gas Company, Los Angeles, CA

United New Mexico Bank, Santa Fe, NM

United States State Department Arts in Embassies Program
Landscape for the United States Embassy in Mali

United States State Department. Gift of one painting to the government of Portugal

University of Texas, Austin, TX

EDUCATION

Attended Maryland Institute of Fine Art, Baltimore, MD
Attended York Academy of Art, York, PA

PRESS

- American Art Collector, December 2005, "The New Tuscan landscapes of William Berra leave something to the imagination"

- Pasatiempo, (Santa Fe New Mexican weekly magazine), August 29, 2003, Craig Smith, "Summer Countries." Featured William Berra's "Summertime - Taos Pueblo" as the magazine cover

- Art-Talk, August/September 2002, John Jarvis, "Simly Better"

- Southwest Art, May 2000, Gussie Fauntleroy, “The Best of Both Worlds”

- Focus Santa Fe, November/December 1999, Dianne Cauble, “Rediscovering the Human Spirit”

- Pasatiempo, July 4, 1991, Leslie Allison, "Panorama of Light: Shadow in an Ever-Changing Landscape"

- Southwest Profile, August 1990, Sally Eauclaire, “Celebrating the Land”

View artwork by William Berra