William G. Scheele has been in the art business in Cleveland, Ohio for 38 years. His most important early influences were his parents, William E. and Joann, who were both visual artists from Cleveland, educated at West Tech and the Cleveland School of Art. His father was Director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History from 1949 through 1972, so Bill grew up with strong influences from the art and natural history worlds. After graduating from Hawken School in 1966, he spent varying amounts of time at Miami University, Ohio University and the Cleveland Institute of Art.
As the Luck of the Sixties would have it, in April of 1969, an old school friend, Jon Taplin, invited Bill to join him in managing The Band for Albert Grossman. Over the course of the next seven years, Bill learned the music business on and off the road, taking care of equipment, stage and driving duties for The Band. One of the highlights of this time period was Tour '74, which re-united Bob Dylan and The Band for a major six week tour of the United States and Canada. Many other wonderful musicians were involved in different projects, including Maria & Geoff Muldaur, Paul Butterfield, Bobby Charles, Dr John, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Hirth Martinez, Van Morrison and Neil Young.
Bill returned to Cleveland after leaving The Band in 1976 and worked for several years as a commercial lithographer, graphic design and trade show exhibits manager. In the fall of 1983, Bill and his father organized a number of well-established artists and artist families to establish a new, non-profit organization called the Cleveland Artists Foundation. From 1984 through 1988, Scheele accepted artwork gifts to begin the organization's collection and curated exhibitions to honor Cleveland's rich historic artistic legacy. The primary honorees included a core group of "Cleveland School" artists, Henry Keller, William Sommer, Grace Kelly, George Adomeit, Frank Wilcox, May Ames, Abel Warshawsky, Carl Gaertner, Paul Travis, Kenneth Bates, Edris Eckhardt, William McVey, Viktor Schreckengost and others.
In the Fall of 1988, Bill opened Scheele Fine Arts Gallery in Cleveland Heights to expand his artistic vision and include regional and national contemporary artists. In addition to a stable of historic Cleveland School artists, the roster included Clarence Carter, Charles Herndon, Mary Wawrytko, Joe O'Sickey, Kasumi, Auke Zandstra, Gary Spinosa, Syd Solomon, David Hostetler, William E Scheele, Larry Isard, Donna Webb and Carol Schoffman.
In the mid to late 1990's, Scheele joined his long-time friend Dr Harold Gerdes at Centrak Lasers to produce multimedia events around the United States. The company utilized video, intelligent lighting and laser projections to create innovative programs for corporate, private and educational entities. Excited by the rapid growth of digital media creativity, Bill founded a new, non-profit organization called NewCAT, the New Center for Art & Technology. Partnering with international artists, NewCAT opened in the Fall of 2002 with an exhibition of still & motion computer graphics; animation & digital video; web design; interactive, immersive & virtual reality works. It was the first time the Swedish-based Digital Hall of Fame had been shown in the United States and Tom Mulready held his first "Cool Cleveland" event at NewCAT.
By 2006, Scheele moved into the 78th Street Studios on Cleveland's near westside, leaving non-profit activities behind. In the Fall of 2007, Kokoon Arts Gallery opened to the public and after nine years, finally closed in December 2016. WGS Productions will continue to represent several historic and contemporary artists on a more private sales basis in room 207. We are also involved in several outside art projects for various organizations.
As the Luck of the Sixties would have it, in April of 1969, an old school friend, Jon Taplin, invited Bill to join him in managing The Band for Albert Grossman. Over the course of the next seven years, Bill learned the music business on and off the road, taking care of equipment, stage and driving duties for The Band. One of the highlights of this time period was Tour '74, which re-united Bob Dylan and The Band for a major six week tour of the United States and Canada. Many other wonderful musicians were involved in different projects, including Maria & Geoff Muldaur, Paul Butterfield, Bobby Charles, Dr John, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Hirth Martinez, Van Morrison and Neil Young.
Bill returned to Cleveland after leaving The Band in 1976 and worked for several years as a commercial lithographer, graphic design and trade show exhibits manager. In the fall of 1983, Bill and his father organized a number of well-established artists and artist families to establish a new, non-profit organization called the Cleveland Artists Foundation. From 1984 through 1988, Scheele accepted artwork gifts to begin the organization's collection and curated exhibitions to honor Cleveland's rich historic artistic legacy. The primary honorees included a core group of "Cleveland School" artists, Henry Keller, William Sommer, Grace Kelly, George Adomeit, Frank Wilcox, May Ames, Abel Warshawsky, Carl Gaertner, Paul Travis, Kenneth Bates, Edris Eckhardt, William McVey, Viktor Schreckengost and others.
In the Fall of 1988, Bill opened Scheele Fine Arts Gallery in Cleveland Heights to expand his artistic vision and include regional and national contemporary artists. In addition to a stable of historic Cleveland School artists, the roster included Clarence Carter, Charles Herndon, Mary Wawrytko, Joe O'Sickey, Kasumi, Auke Zandstra, Gary Spinosa, Syd Solomon, David Hostetler, William E Scheele, Larry Isard, Donna Webb and Carol Schoffman.
In the mid to late 1990's, Scheele joined his long-time friend Dr Harold Gerdes at Centrak Lasers to produce multimedia events around the United States. The company utilized video, intelligent lighting and laser projections to create innovative programs for corporate, private and educational entities. Excited by the rapid growth of digital media creativity, Bill founded a new, non-profit organization called NewCAT, the New Center for Art & Technology. Partnering with international artists, NewCAT opened in the Fall of 2002 with an exhibition of still & motion computer graphics; animation & digital video; web design; interactive, immersive & virtual reality works. It was the first time the Swedish-based Digital Hall of Fame had been shown in the United States and Tom Mulready held his first "Cool Cleveland" event at NewCAT.
By 2006, Scheele moved into the 78th Street Studios on Cleveland's near westside, leaving non-profit activities behind. In the Fall of 2007, Kokoon Arts Gallery opened to the public and after nine years, finally closed in December 2016. WGS Productions will continue to represent several historic and contemporary artists on a more private sales basis in room 207. We are also involved in several outside art projects for various organizations.
