Williams Studio, Inc.
(406) 539-4155, consbronze@gmail.com www.conwilliams.com
Con Williams grew up on a ranch in south-central British Columbia, where he became a cowboy at a young age. He learned of his family’s heritage through stories told by his father. His great-great grandfather homesteaded in the Gallatin Valley, Montana, and even his name, which came from his great grandmother’s maiden name Conlin, is a reminder of his ancestry.
While attending Montana State University on a rodeo scholarship, Williams rode saddle-bronc horses, team roped, calf-roped and occasionally steer-wrestled. He graduated and worked at a bronze foundry and learned the bronze casting process, while rodeoing professionally. As he gained more knowledge, his desire to create his own bronzes surfaced.
The urge to create is so strong in some artists that they sometimes risk everything to pursue their dreams. Williams suffered a severe accident in his effort to support his “feast or famine” artist lifestyle. In October 2000, while working on a construction job in Augusta, Montana, a 12-foot fall left him with a broken neck and four dislocated fingers. Despite such a tragedy, Williams made a full recovery and is now good as new.
In the past 20 years, Williams has created 16 of the championship bronze trophies awarded at the Calgary Stampede. He’s also acquired collectors throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Eventually, after his accident in 2000, Williams became the owner of the Mold Department at Art Castings of Montana (Belgrade). You can find his art in the Dyrk Godby Art Gallery in Sisters, Oregon, and Bozeman, Montana.
“A great artist sculpts with his heart and gives his artwork a voice,” Williams says. “A good sculpture should speak long after the artist is gone. When collecting art, you should buy art that touches your soul.”