William Manning
I was born in Lewiston, Maine and have lived in Maine all my life. I started painting in 1954 and later taught at the Portland School of Art (now Maine College of Art) for 10 years. I was then fired for what was considered a radical philosophy in teaching and painting. I was the first native Maine painter to paint abstract work (Marsden Hartley did a few abstract paintings around 1917), also to receive a National Endowment Grant and a MacDowell Fellowship. I was co-founder of Concept, a School of Visual Studies. Many of the students I taught became recognized artists in New York and elsewhere. I then became involved in the New York art scene for over 25 years. I met many of the first and second generation abstract expressionists and showed with them. I live and work in Falmouth, Maine.
