William Dickerson

William Dickerson (1904 – 1972) 

William Dickerson was born in 1904 in El Dorado, Kansas. Two years later the family moved to Wichita where Dickerson made his home for the rest of his life, raising a family, developing a career as a painter and print maker, and inspiring generations of young artists. Dickerson received his earliest art instruction at the School of the Wichita Art Association – now known as the Wichita Center for the Arts.

In 1926, with the encouragement of Wichita printmakers C.A. Seward and Clarence Hotvedt, Dickerson enrolled at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His four-year study there included special training in lithography with noted artist Bolton Brown. Although he was offered a teaching position at the Art Institute following his graduation, Dickerson chose to return to Wichita in 1930 to teach at the School of the Wichita Art Association as one of the state’s most important centers of studio art instruction.

William Dickerson became a leading member of the Prairie Print Makers, the Prairie Watercolor Painters and the Wichita Artists Guild. During his long and productive career, Dickerson showed his prints and paintings in major museums, art clubs, and universities nationwide.