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Michigan Heritage Awards
Arts
Nomination Form (PDF)
Arts Nomination
Form (word)
Community
Leadership Nomination Form (PDF)
Community Leadership
Nomination Form (word)
^ MHA Awardees List ^
Photo by Pearl Yee Wong
Willard "Bill" C. Finch
2009 awardee, Stockbridge (Ingham County), Decorative
painter
Bill Finch (b. 1944) grew up in a family of artisans who inspired and encouraged
him to become an artist. Over several decades he became an accomplished
woodcarver, furniture designer and builder, ornamental plasterer, homebuilder,
sign painter, and graphic artist. His masterful skills and knowledge in
these arenas drew the attention of the John Canning and Company, Ltd., the
nation’s leading traditional decorative paint firm, contracted to
restore the decorative painting in the Senate Chamber and surrounding rooms
of the Michigan State Capitol. Bill trained under the Scotland-born Canning
and was one of some forty artists who helped Canning’s firm in the
restoration that extended from 1989 to 1992. Today, Bill is the master decorative
painter and preservation specialist for the entire building.
Bill’s talent extends to a variety of traditional techniques no longer
practiced. His skills include marbling, wood graining, gilding, trompe l’oeil,
glazing, striping, and free-hand painting. Historically, these techniques
were common in architectural interior decoration, applied by artists trained
by apprenticeship. They have, however, fallen out of use as styles and building
materials changed. Bill also repairs and replicates the fancy plaster designs
on the walls, fashioning his own tools to match the original patterns. His
charge extends to maintenance of floors, windows, chandeliers and other
lighting, furnishings, the portrait collection, exterior stonework and more.
The Michigan State Capitol is a National Historic Landmark with unparalleled
decorative painting, considered one of the finest examples of this art in
the nation. Bill Finch is intensely aware of its history and the achievements
of those artists whose work he strives to restore and maintain. He loves
the building and its magnificent art and considers his work to be his legacy
to the residents of the state.
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