William M Basciani Biography
William M Basciani Biography
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William M. Basciani was born in 1980, a member of the 4th generation of the largest family-owned mushroom business in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, "the mushroom capital of the world". As was expected of all the male members of his family, young Basciani started working at the family's mushroom plant when he was still in elementary school, along with his grandfather, father, older brother, uncles, and numerous cousins. Basciani showed a serious interest in art when he was very young. His father, Richard, had shown artistic ability when he was in his youth and had wanted to be an artist. Instead, he entered into the family business as expected. Richard's son, however, was strongly encouraged by both his parents to pursue his talent. Having grown up surrounded by art and culture, Victoria Kraut, Basciani's mother, naturally began taking her younger son to the Delaware Art Museum when he was in 1st grade. Basciani loved to draw, so when he was only eight years old and at his mother's urging, the budding artist enrolled at summer art classes at the Delaware Art Museum. That fall, he continued his passion by taking art classes at the Center for Creative Arts in Yorklyn, Delaware. At the age of 12, Basciani began an apprenticeship with his father's good friend and a well-known artist named William O. Ewing III. Ewing quickly became Basciani's mentor. To this day, Basciani frequently goes to the West Chester, Pennsylvania studio of his former mentor merely to paint alongside him. Basciani was awarded the Kennett Education Art Award in 1998. That same year he was accepted into the prestigious four-year Certificate program of Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the oldest and most renowned art school in the United States. After earning his Certificate of Fine Arts, Basciani set up his studio in a historic barn in nearby Chadds Ford. It is there where he does most of his work, which is diverse in subject matter, including portraits, landscapes of Pennsylvania and Maine, and still lifes of mushrooms and other objects with equally strong personal associations. While Basciani resides in Chadds Ford, he paints wherever he is — during trips to Europe and Japan, during visits to Florida and to Maine, even during a performance of The Nutcracker. His work is on exhibit from October 5th to November 2nd at the Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery in downtown West Chester, and has also been exhibited in select shows and galleries in the Brandywine Valley.
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WILLIAM MICHAEL BASCIANI
1992-2004
Apprenticeship with
artist
William O. Ewing,
May, 2003
The
2004-Present
Assistant instructor for art classes
given by former mentor, William O. Ewing
EXHIBITIONS Philadelphia, Pa., Newman Galleries, The Philadelphia Sketch Club 2008 Members Exhibition, June-July, 2008 West Chester, Pa., Sunset
Hill Fine Arts Gallery, Act I (first one-man show), October 5-November 2, 2007
West Chester, Pa., Sunset Hill Fine Arts
Gallery, Sixth Annual
Miniature Show, November 23-December 24, 2005
West Chester, Pa., Sunset Hill Fine Arts
Gallery, Fifth Annual
Miniature Show, November 23-December 24, 2004
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