"I loved my time at ACC - I had such great experiences there."

When given the opportunity to attend a private art school, Hannah Williams chose to accept The Glens Falls Foundation Art Scholarship to SUNY Adirondack and stay local in her hometown of Queensbury, New York.

"My most memorable time was the trip to Italy. I learned some basic Italian, some art history, and was able to work on my art," said Hannah. While on the International Education trip to Italy, she was graded on an in-depth journal that now holds her memories and sketches from the museums, landscapes, and culture from her time abroad.

Hannah thrived in classes like Professor John Hampshire's model sessions. "I tell people all the time to check out his classes - they were so helpful to me," said Hannah. Those model sessions still impact her work to this day. Hannah's current series is called Reveries of a Woman - a women's empowerment series that consists of twenty different women that she photographed and painted into daydream-like scenes over the last three years. She hopes to one day show the full series in a gallery.

After graduation, Hannah went right to work. She began doing live painting sessions in the music festival scene - starting a new painting at the beginning of each festival and finishing by the end of the performances. She continued to study, work, and challenge herself in her painting. Slowly, Hannah began to get into mural work, something she began doing during her time at Adirondack Studios in Argyle. As she began to pick up more work and lost her side jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she realized that not only could she make a living pursuing her dreams as an artist, but her work was in demand.

"Normally I do 1 or 2 murals per year, but this year it seems like everyone wants one - people are craving art right now."

Hannah's first mural was for Cote Insurance Agency. Since then she has done mural work for 518 Beauty Room, Pediatric Dental Group of New York, Honest Weight Food Co-op,

The Pizza Shop in Warrensburg, and many more.

"Last year we went totally off the grid for 6 months in the Sonoran Desert in Yuma, Arizona. Tomorrow we head to the Carolina's. I would love to do murals all over the country."

Hannah and her boyfriend, a fellow artist, have traveled across the country in their camper doing mural work.

Hannah Williams
Liberal Arts and Sciences, Class of 2013
Glens Falls Foundation Art Scholarship