Artist William Schimmel

An active artist and teacher in Arizona, he painted watercolor desert landscapes and first taught art at Flagstaff. He became an instructor at the Gerry Peirce Watercolor School of Tucson and then was Director of the Schimmel School of Watercolor in Scottsdale. In 1958, he wrote a how-to book: "Water Color, the Happy Medium."

Schimmel exhibited his watercolors in galleries throughout the Southwest and is regarded as one of the most significant watercolor painters in Arizona history. He was a member of the American Watercolor Society. Born in Olean, New York, he studied at Rutgers University in New Jersey, the National Academy of Design in New York City, and at the Maryland Institute of Art. He was a student of Gerry Pierce and Roy Mason. From 1935 to 1938, he was art director of a major advertising agency in New York City.