MOUNT UNION COLLEGE Mahoning Valley native's art depicts glory of the Rust Belt

A Boardman grad makes his mark in the art world.
By LAURIE M. FISHER
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
"The Rust Belt is a good thing, kind of like an unsung hero," said artist William Chill. "The Rust Belt doesn't get credit for what it has produced."
When the Mahoning Valley native paints urban scenes or draws blast furnaces with charcoal, he views his subjects as a symbol of power and beauty.
"There is not only physical beauty with reds and oranges and colors of rust. The steel mills symbolize the power of American steel and how they have built this country. They produced weapons to win two world wars and make America an industrial giant."
Solo show: Chill's works, which include four charcoal drawings and nine paintings, will be on display at the Crandall Gallery at Mount Union College from Sept. 29 through Nov. 1. He was asked to exhibit a solo show after a Mount Union faculty member saw his work at the Butler Institute of American Art's annual area artist's show.
Chill, son of Bill and Margie Chill of Boardman, was born and reared in the Mahoning Valley. The 1983 graduate of Boardman High School attended art classes in high school but earned a degree in physics on an ROTC scholarship at Purdue University in Indiana.
"I didn't think art was something you could do for a career," he said in a recent interview from his home in Cleveland. "I was good in science, and it seemed to be more practical." Chill is employed in the transportation industry while creating art after his "day job."
His background: After graduation, Chill traveled abroad as a missile and munitions officer for the Army, including a stint in Germany. Although his position limited his opportunity to draw and paint, his job took him to the museums of the great cities of Europe, which inspired his artistic eye.
In 1991, "the lid came off," he said with a laugh.
After the service he worked at an Indianapolis logistics company as front-line manager. Several years later, Chill began formal art training at Herron School of Art at Indiana University. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1998.
"I started to become interested in the world, current events and how the world is changing. Seeing the Berlin wall come down left a big impression," he noted.
While living in Indiana among farming industries, Chill's frame of reference included the imagery of his industrial roots in northeast Ohio. Although no family member worked in the area steel mills, they left a lasting impression on him, he said.
"I remember driving through the area and how huge, loud, and unreal the mills were, in a positive way," he recalled. He visits the area and other industrial sites in Northeast Ohio to photograph and sketch the remains of the plants.
Often, area residents will ask him why he is drawing the steel mills. "Then they will begin to tell me stories of when they worked in the mills," he said. "You can hear pride in their voices. They like what I am doing. They are unsung heroes. They feel like they are being recognized for their contributions."
"Most of my work focuses specifically on the diminishing industrial landscape, rusting steel mills, old buildings and other trappings of life in the waning industrial age," he explains in an artist's statement. "The beat up old industrial cities of the country are left behind as the world moved on, however the sweat and toil of generations in the mills has left its stamp on these places. The places I depict are inspired by direct observation but are not literal translations of what is there; I try to enhance rather than depict. Luminosity and space are important elements in my work, which I want to take on a specific mood."