First African-American Undergraduate Department Chair in ArtCenter’s History

INSIDE OUR SCHOOLS

Award-winning photographer and educator Everard Williams has been named chair of the Photography and Imaging Department at ArtCenter College of Design, as announced today by Interim Provost Dr. Anne Burdick.

By News Desk

Williams is the first African-American to serve as an undergraduate department chair in the College’s history.

Williams is the first African-American to serve as department chair across the College’s suite of undergraduate programs. He joins Stan Douglas, chair of Graduate Art, who stepped into his role in July 2021. This represents a concentrated effort by the College to expand faculty and educational leadership perspectives to better reflect and support an increasingly diverse student body.

As department chair, Williams will provide vision, leadership and be broadly responsible for ensuring educational excellence and the ongoing successful operations of the Photography and Imaging program. With nearly 70 students and 30 full- and part-time faculty members, enrollment in the program is carefully managed from term-to-term to maximize use of campus facilities and resources, which includes a 2,500 square-foot photo stage, digital imaging lab, black-and-white photo lab, color photo lab, and a full spectrum of professional camera equipment available for use in the Educational Media Equipment Center.

Everard Williams

Williams has been a member of the ArtCenter community for many years—as a student, an alumnus (BFA 89), a professor, and as a faculty director, as well as previously serving as department interim chair. He’s taught numerous courses at the College, participated in significant panel discussions, and assumed management of the department in times of transition, including the shift to remote teaching and learning at the start of the pandemic. Williams was a founding member of the College’s inaugural Council on Diversity and Inclusion, and he continues to be a strong advocate for the student body, especially those from underserved communities and students of color.

He has also maintained a professional photography practice since 1991, specializing in high-end photography for national and international advertising, design and editorial clients, including some of the world’s top creative agencies, record labels, nonprofits, national magazines, and food and beverage companies. His work has been recognized with awards from AIGA, Communication Arts, Print Magazine and the Society of Publication Designers, among others.

Williams said:

Photography’s ubiquity and its ease-of-use help support the belief that the process of crafting images is easy and that anyone can do it. Critical to photography’s relevance, however, is the magic blend of technical deftness, artistic intent and engaging storytelling.

“The responsibility of educating the next generation of photographic artists requires creating space for new classes to help students in their storytelling development,” Williams continued. “Whether or not the photographer’s intent is artistic or commercial, the superpower of lens-based storytelling is the creation of dynamic, engaging and emotional stories.”