Washington County Artist Granted Wish For Solo Exhibit

JULIE E. GREENE
The Herald-Mail

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- William "Bill" Bulla's paintings have been in exhibits before, but the Hagerstown resident said he'd never before had an exhibit just of his work.

The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts and Hospice of Washington County granted Bulla's wish for an art exhibit with several of his watercolors on display in the museum's atrium from April 9 through April 12.

"I think it's great to have the opportunity to have an art show and share it with my friends," said Bulla, sitting in a wheelchair by a display of several of his watercolors.

The show "has become a very dear thing to me in my 91 years," Bulla said.

Bulla, who has end-stage lung disease, was joined by several family members and friends, as about 100 people attended an April 12 reception.

Among those attending were Bulla's hospice nurses, certified nursing assistant Kathy Whalen and registered nurse/case manager Lynn Milek.

It was Milek who talked to Bulla about hospice's My Wish program.

Milek said Bulla doesn't smile much anymore during hospice visits, but "to see him here today, it's just really amazing because I haven't seen him stop smiling since he got here."

That's a sentiment Bulla's daughter, Beverly Jacob, echoed during the reception.

"It means a lot to him and I can tell because he's been smiling all day," Jacob told the crowd.

Milek said Bulla also visited his art exhibit April 10 and April 11.

The exhibit went up April 9, museum Director Rebecca Massie Lane said.

Massie Lane said when hospice asked her about exhibiting Bulla's work, she went online to see some of his paintings and "saw how accomplished he is."

The decision was a "no-brainer," Massie Lane said.

"I thought, `what a wonderful opportunity to be able to grant such a nice wish for him.' ... This is a community museum and the answer is `Yes,"' she said.

Bulla, an Army Air Corps veteran, attended the Columbia School of Art in Washington, D.C., and took studio art classes at the Corcoran Museum School of Art, according to his biography and Jacob.

After college, in 1950, Bulla began working as a commercial artist for Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s advertising department in Washington, D.C.

He and a friend later opened an advertising agency; he became co-owner of The Type House, an offset composition company in Baltimore; and Bulla earned several honors, including the Cumberland Valley Ad Club Silver Medal for outstanding contribution in the field of advertising and marketing.

Bulla has lived in the Sharpsburg and Hagerstown areas, and has been involved with several local nonprofits, including the Washington County chapter of the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity of Washington County and the Mason-Dixon Council of Boy Scouts of America.

Many years ago, he and his wife, Barbara, now deceased, started a coats-for-kids program at Valley Mall, a program that later was picked up by the North Hagerstown Lions Club, according to Bulla's biography.

Bulla, who used to paint oils, switched his focus to watercolors after his first retirement, in 1989.

Most of his landscape paintings are of Maryland scenes, including sites in Washington and Harford counties, Bulla said. He also has painted scenes from North Carolina's Outer Banks and of Oklahoma, where he was born and raised.

"I became interested in art when I was a kid," Bulla said.

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