Charles Edward Williams

Good Samaritan

9”x 12”

Oil on mylar

Charles Edward Williams is a contemporary visual artist from Georgetown, South Carolina. He holds a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA and an MFA at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. He is inspired by the relationship between human emotion and our natural environment. He often chooses subject matter based on life experiences that have been humbling and sometimes traumatic. The psychological elements of his paintings are generated by personal and emotional responses to people, places, and things. Recent works draw inspiration from historical photography of the Civil Rights movement, and, through the use of color and gesture, offer a contemporary response to social and political issues of the past and present. Each piece orchestrates various viewpoints into a shared message of our human connectedness and commonality in order to entice viewers to explore from unfamiliar perspectives. Some of the most recent places Charles’s work has been featured is the Residency Art Gallery, "Sun + Light" Inglewood, CA, Artspace "Lost and Found" Raleigh, NC and Winthrop University, “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” Rock Hill, SC. 

ABOUT THE PIECE, $600

The piece was inspired by a historic picture of nurses outside the Good Samaritan Hospital.  The hospital was built in 1891 and was the first private hospital in North Carolina built exclusively for the treatment of black citizens. The hospital was administered by a board of women from St. Peter’s until 1947. Located in Charlotte’s Third Ward neighborhood between Mint and Graham streets.  In 1996, the historic hospital and the homes nearby were torn down to make way for Ericsson Stadium, today known as Bank of America Stadium and home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.