-
Artist: Bill Franz
My father-in-law, Wally Willaman, is 101 years old and his memory has been gradually fading. The memory loss made our visits together difficult, so I decided to try something new. We’d avoid discussions of the hazy past by working together on a project in the present. I’ve become a photographer and a digital artist in retirement, and I asked my father-in-law to help me with this art series called Jobs from A to Z.
Wally was hesitant at first, but eventually he started to enjoy the project. We discussed which colors were good together and which colors we didn’t like. We talked about whether the letter ‘F’ should be for a Farmer or a Fire Eater or a Florist. Sometimes I’d prepare two different rough drafts and we’d put a box of donuts on a table in the hall. As the nursing home residents and staff came by for a donut, we’d ask them to vote on which rough draft was best. We had fun every time we got together.
When I told Wally that the gallery wanted me to write something about how we worked together on this project he said, ‘Tell them that even when people are my age you can still squeeze some work out of them.’
We hope people have as much fun viewing our art as Wally and I did making it.
– Bill Franz