Former University of Kentucky basketball player LaVon Williams is an accomplished woodcarver and folk artist whose work is in a permanent collection at Morehead State University’s Kentucky Folk Art Center.
Tomorrow, an exhibition of Williams’ work will open in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, at The Arts Company, from 6 until 9 p.m. It will run through Sept. 10.
“Rhythm in Relief: The Art of LaVon Williams” will feature more than 60 works by the Lexington basketball-star-turned-woodcarver. Most of the works are recent, and all are being offered for sale through The Arts Company.
Williams was born July 10, 1958, in Lakeland, Florida. He moved with his family to Denver in 1968, where he finished his schooling in 1976 and was a high school All-American basketball star. He attended the University of Kentucky on an athletic scholarship, playing on the UK basketball team that won the NCAA championship in 1978. In 1980 he graduated from UK with a degree in sociology, and left to play pro ball in Italy and Japan before returning to the U.S. In the mid-1980s he returned to Lexington and has lived there ever since with his family.
Williams was introduced to carving as a child. In Sanford, Florida, his great uncle, Luke Wright (1893-1979), was a woodcarver and his older half-brother, Dave Wright, was inspired to begin carving after watching his uncle at work.
Dave taught his brother how to carve. Williams dedicated himself to carving after the conclusion of his basketball career. For more than 25 years, he has maintained his own studio, separate from the family’s home, in a small house located in a transitional Lexington neighborhood. Working with hammers and chisels, Williams has become one of America’s preeminent wood carvers.
“While Williams’ work has been shown in many commercial galleries before, I don’t think it has ever been presented as well as it will be at The Arts Company in Nashville,” said Matt Collinsworth, KFAC director.
“Ever since we produced a major retrospective of his work in 2009, we’ve hoped LaVon’s work would draw the attention of a major urban gallery. I’m overjoyed that Anne Brown (owner of The Arts Company) shares our enthusiasm for his carvings. The Arts Company is a great place, and Nashville is a growing and dynamic city. In LaVon Williams, the people of Nashville are going to get to see dozens of new works by one of America’s most important artists.”
Kentucky Folk Art Center is a cultural, educational and economic development service of Morehead State University. The Center is open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 606-783-2204 or visit www.moreheadstate.edu/kfac/.
