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“Bill Reid is to sculpture what Dr. Seuss is to children’s books.”
– Stacey Williams-Ng for Milwaukee Home & Fine Living Magazine

Recognized around the world as one of the leading fabulists in a fabulousy world, Bill (Bee) Reid has been making painted steel extravagonzo sculptures for over thirty years.

As a youngster, he took a wrong turn somewhere and his mind has been out wandering around in the bush ever since, playing around with creatures that inhabit their own little udopia and follow an uncommon logic. Characterized by extremely high spirits, they fall back to earth with a certain grace leaving behind a little epiphony or feybill to wonder at.

“My process of working is elemental; using only a few hand tools and the heat of the torch I build my creatures out of thin sheets of metal and steel rods. Even as a young boy, I was drawn to the siren call of fire. Like a detective, I turn on the heat until the steel talks. Like an astronomer, I study faint sparks of light in the distance and I try to bring them closer by telling their stories about life in the mowzone layer.”

Whether they have mechanical movement, can be played as instruments, or can even be driven on the street, Reid’s work requires us to erase our perception of what is, and ask ourselves, what could Bee?

Artist’s Bio 

EDUCATION
MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
BFA, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
Tulsa Welding School, Tulsa, OK

SELECTED COMMISSIONS & PUBLIC WORKS
2014              Featured Artist on Milwaukee Public Television’s The Arts Page
2011               RAM on the Road/Wustum on Wheels, painting commission
2007              Artwork featured in BBC program, Treasures of India
                        Sea Turtle Chess Board, Racine Public Library, Racine, WI
2004              North Beach Bike Racks, Racine, WI
2004              Ivory Billed Woodpecker, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithica, NY
2000              Brady Street Beasts, Brady and Holton Streets, Milwaukee, WI
1996               George’s Penguin, George’s Tavern, Racine, WI
1995                Hawk Bench, The Prairie School, Racine, WI
1994 & 1992     Windows at Tiffanys, Tiffany & Co., San Francisco, CA
1992                Freeing the Animals, Racine Zoo, Racine, WI
1988                Monument to the Unknown Birdwatcher, Milwaukee County Zoo, WI

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015             Racine Art Museum Artist Fellowship Winners Exhibition (August)
2014             What Could Bee?, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2013              Peacabill Kingdom, Delafield Arts Center, Delafield, WI
2012             Zoom…, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL (2 person show)
2010             One from Wisconsin, Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, WI
2009            Birds of Steel, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithica, NY
                      Another Moving Experience, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2007           WHEELS, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
                     Pieceabill Kingdom, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2006-07      Flying through the Windows, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
2006           Featured Artist, Tory Folliard Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
2005          New Arrivals, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2003          New Sculpture, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
1997          Featured Artist, Boerner Botanical Gardens, Milwaukee, WI
                    Bee Seeing You, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1996          Wit and Sensibility, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1994         On a Roll, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1993         Bill Reid- Metal Sculpture, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL
1989         Recent Sculpture, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, WI
1989        Small Scale Satirical Sculptures, David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
1986         Bill Reid, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI

SELECTED MUSEUM/PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS
2015               Kindred Collecting…, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI                 
Wildlife Biennial XVII
, Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI
2014               Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales…,  Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
                        Animal Craft, Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, Chautauqua Institute, NY
2013               25th Anniversary Exhibition, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
                        Wildlife Biennial XVI, Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI
2012               A Passion for Pets, Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI
                        Found Object Exhibition, Snyderman-Works Galleries, Philadelphia, PA
2011                AnimalCraft, Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, Chautauqua Institution, NY
                         Racine and Vicinity Juried Competition, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
2010                The Marvelous Toys…, HF Johnson Gallery of Art,Carthage College, Kenosha, WI
                        Word Play and Menagerie of the Mind, Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
2007                Art Zoo, Appleton Art Center, Appleton, WI
2004                Raminals, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
                         Toys Designed by Artists, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR (also 2003, 2002, & 2000)
2001                Toy With Us, Palo Alto Arts Center, CA
1999                Objects of Sound, Bloomington Art Museum, Bloomington, IN
                          The End is Near, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
1998                Dress Up, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
1997                Artists of a Different Caliber, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
1996                Fantimals, Chicago Children’s Museum, Chicago, IL
                         Just Add Water, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
1995                Let’s Play House, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
1994                The Aesthetics of Athletes, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
                        Beyond Furniture, Suburban Fine Arts Center, Highland Park, IL
1993               Aquatic Visions, John Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL
                       Pet Show, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
1992                Serious Fun, Society for Contemporary Crafts, Pittsburgh, PA
1991                A Beastly Exhibition, South Bend Art Center, South Bend, IN
1990                Our Ladies of Art, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
1989                Wisconsin Biennial, Rahr West Museum, Manitowoc, WI
                      Dashboard Art, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
                        The Aesthetic Experience, Wustum Museum of Art, Racine, WI
                         Wisconsin Artists, Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL
1988                A Venture Into Installation, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, WI
1986                On Site, Milwaukee County Zoo, Sponsored by the Milwaukee Art Museum
                        Marriage à la Mode, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
1984                Cow Show, Wustum Museum, Racine, WI
1982                Wisconsin Biennial, Madison Art Center, Madison, WI

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
National Music Museum, Vermillion, SD
Cornell Institute of Ornithology, Ithica, NY
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
The Guest House at Wingspread, Racine, WI
The Racine Zoo