Hollis Williford.

Hollis Williford was born into a farming family in north central Texas. While growing up, he began his sculpting on ten cent bars of Ivory soap. In succeeding years, he studied at the University of Texas at Arlington, North Texas University, and the Art Center College of Art & Design in Los Angeles, CA. Though Hollis has worked in pencil, oils, and etchings, he is best known for his bronze sculptures. In 1980 he won the National Academy of Western Art’s gold medal and its Prix de West Purchase Award. For his sculpture and drawing of an Eskimo pursuing a caribou herd by kayak, he won two more gold medals in 1986. His list of artistic achievements is long and impressive. Yet the depth of this man and the love for his subjects leaves a continuing impression.

Hollis is one of the rare permanent members of the National Academy of Western Art. His thirteen foot monument sculpture "Welcome Sundown" graces the entrance to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, OK. In addition, his works can be found in the permanent collections of the Thomas Gilcrease Museum (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland), and Duquesne University (Pittsburg, Pennsylvania).

When asked about his artwork, Hollis replies, "I'm celebrating living forms in motion. The research is the fun part, about a third of what is necessary. The difficult part is translating dynamic action into a three-dimensional artwork. The final piece must reflect design, mass, kinetics and flow. I push my pieces to the limit of thrust. A lot of my subjects feature such dynamic action; but it's even harder to achieve subtle, graceful motion."

Sculptor Hollis Williford with his sculpture "The Need to Know". Photo by Karen Stallwood as pictured in the "Dallas Morning News".

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Monumental and Lifesize Figures:

Smaller Human Figures: