William Basciani
William M. Basciani was born in 1980, a member of the 4th generation of the largest family-owned mushroom business in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, “the mushroom capital of the world”. As was expected of all the male members of his family, young Basciani started working at the family’s mushroom plant when he was still in elementary school, along with his grandfather, father, older brother, uncles, and numerous cousins.
Basciani showed a serious interest in art when he was very young. His father, Richard, had shown artistic ability when he was in his youth and had wanted to be an artist. Instead, he entered into the family business as expected. Richard’s son, however, was strongly encouraged by both his parents to pursue his talent.
Having grown up surrounded by art and culture, Victoria Kraut, Basciani’s mother, naturally began taking her younger son to the Delaware Art Museum when he was in 1st grade. Basciani loved to draw, so when he was only eight years old and at his mother’s urging, the budding artist enrolled at summer art classes at the Delaware Art Museum. That fall, he continued his passion by taking art classes at the Center for Creative Arts in Yorklyn, Delaware.
At the age of 12, Basciani began an apprenticeship with his father’s good friend and a well-known artist named William O. Ewing III. Ewing quickly became Basciani’s mentor. To this day, Basciani frequently goes to the West Chester, Pennsylvania studio of his former mentor merely to paint alongside him.
Basciani was awarded the Kennett Education Art Award in 1998. That same year he was accepted into the prestigious four-year Certificate program of Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the oldest and most renowned art school in the United States.
After earning his Certificate of Fine Arts, Basciani set up his studio in a historic barn in nearby Chadds Ford. It is there where he does most of his work, which is diverse in subject matter, including portraits, landscapes of Pennsylvania and Maine, and still lifes of mushrooms and other objects with equally strong personal associations.
While Basciani resides in Chadds Ford, he paints wherever he is — during trips to Europe and Japan, during visits to Florida and to Maine, even during a performance of The Nutcracker. His work has been on exhibit at the Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery in downtown West Chester, and has also been exhibited in select shows and galleries in the Brandywine Valley.
EDUCATION
1992-2004 Apprenticeship with artist William O. Ewing, Unionville, Pennsylvania
May, 2003 The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pa.
Earned Certificate of Fine Arts (double major in Painting)
RELATED EXPERIENCE
2008/ 2009 Chadds Ford Historical Society’s Plein Air in the Brandywine Valley
2008 Member, Philadelphia Sketch Club
2004-Present Assistant instructor for art classes given by former mentor, William O. Ewing
EXHIBITIONS
Philadelphia, Pa., Newman Galleries, The Philadelphia Sketch Club 2008 Members Exhibition, June-July, 2008
West Chester, Pa., Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery, Act I (first one-man show), October 5-November 2, 2007
West Chester, Pa., Chester County Arts Association, Growing the Arts Benefit Auction, 2006
West Chester, Pa., Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery, Sixth Annual Miniature Show, November 23-December 24, 2005
West Chester, Pa., Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery, Showdown: A Mentor and His Apprentice: The Work of William Ewing and William Basciani, October 14-November 14, 2005
Chadds Ford, Pa., The Brandywine River Museum, The Young Friends of the Brandywine All Hallow’s Eve Ball, October 22, 2005. Designed and painted murals on canvas used as backdrops for the dance.
Chadds Ford, Pa., The Brandywine Valley Hemophilia Foundation Spring Dinner Dance Benefit Auction, May 7, 2004
West Chester, Pa., Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery, Fifth Annual Miniature Show, November 23-December 24, 2004
Philadelphia, Pa., The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Annual Student Exhibition, spring, 2003 (exhibited 10 oil paintings)
Yorklynn, Delaware, Center for the Creative Arts, Annual Regional Fine Arts Exhibition, May, 2003
Chadds Ford, Pa., The Brandywine Valley Hemophilia Foundation Spring Dinner Dance Benefit Auction, May 7, 2003
Philadelphia, Pa., The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Annual Student Exhibition, spring, 2002 (exhibited 10 oil paintings)
Chadds Ford, Pa., The Brandywine Valley Hemophilia Foundation Spring Dinner Dance Benefit Auction, May 7, 2000