Charles Edward Williams is a contemporary visual artist from Georgetown, South Carolina. He holds a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia and an MFA from the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG). Williams’ influence extends beyond his role as a visual artist and filmmaker. He is also a dedicated educator, serving as the Endowed Associate Chair of the Fine Art Department and a Professor of Drawing and Painting at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). His influence was further demonstrated when he was selected as the featured artist for the 35th Annual Georgetown Wooden Boat Show in Georgetown, South Carolina, notably as the first African American artist for this prestigious honor.
Williams ‘ work has garnered international recognition, transcending national borders. He has attended summer artist residencies at prestigious institutions, including Otis College of Art and Design (CA), SOMA (Mexico City, Mexico), the Gibbes Museum (SC), and the McColl Center for Art + Innovation (NC). His solo exhibitions, including “Sun + Light,” “I Sit and Sew,” “Sun + Light,” and “Black River,” have been showcased at renowned art institutions such as the Cameron Art Museum (NC), Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) (UT), Gibbes Museum of Art (SC), Delaware Art Museum (DE), Alabama Contemporary (AL) and, Cerritos College (LA). His work has also been exhibited at distinguished art fairs such as Aqua and Scope Art Fair / Art Basel (FL) and Texas Contemporary Art Fair (TX).
Group exhibitions have included the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (CT), David C. Driskell Center of the University of Maryland (MD), Kunstraum Potsdam (Berlin, Germany), Barnes Foundation & Rush Arts Foundation (PA), Post Collapse Art (Zurich, Switzerland), Nasher Museum of Art (NC) and other domestic institutions. Works have been reviewed in local and national publications and media, including the Washington Post, NPR, and South Carolina’s ETV network (PBS affiliate). During Williams’ ongoing residency at Pike School of Art (MS), he created the project FORWARD, which the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Ruth Foundation for the Arts partly supported.
Permanent collections include the North Carolina Museum of Art (NC), the Gibbes Museum (SC), Georgia Museum of Art (GA), Knoxville Museum of Art (TN), Delaware Art Museum (DE), Mississippi Museum of Art (MS), Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University (NC), and the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art (NJ). Williams received the Riley Institute Diversity Leadership Award from the State of South Carolina for developing enriching art programs within local communities.