From Nina Greenwald:

Celebrating Bill Oakes

For the gift he was to us while in the program earning his masters degree and ever-after, the CCT program is honored to dedicate this month-long celebration to the art, imagination and vision of Bill Oakes' brilliant creative mind.

Bill Oakes believed that the essence of our creativity is the ability to make connections --"connectivity" as he referred to it. "It's that simple", he would say in our conversations. Well, while it's true that we are all creative, most of us have to work at what came so effortlessly to Bill. With ease, agility and joy, Bill could connect seemingly unrelated ideas, think in metaphors, discover and surprise us with the unexpected, and instill confidence that we could do the same regardless of age and life experiences,

Picasso once said "Every child is an artist -- the problem is how to remain an artist when he or she grows up." Bill figured this out and taught us how to enliven that playful child within each of us. Through his art, his teaching, his books, his toys and invention workshops for children, his fascination and love affair with life, Bill taught us how to reach our creative/creator selves and see in new ways. He taught us how to unleash the creative magic of our minds.

Bill's compelling depiction of Einstein is like looking into the cosmos. It's as though there's an inseparability between Einstein and the universe. The more I look at this piece, the more I am reminded of Bill and believe I grasp the deepest meaning of what he meant by "connectivity". Bill was connected to the cosmos, he was and is a man of the universe. We're all part of that universe too. A universe that inspires and connects us as creators.

While setting up the exhibit last Friday, Bill's wife Sharon noticed a bird resting on the ledge outside of the large windows at the other end of this gallery. It was looking in the direction of what was going on inside. Sharon turned to me and said, "Bill loved watching birds -- he so wanted to fly. He had numerous bird books and when we were driving somewhere he would invariably spot a hawk or something swooping. I told him he had eagle eyes. Bill would have loved having a bird nesting nearby, watching over his exhibit."

Bill did fly with his imagination -- to extraordinary heights and with vision that defied metaphor.

We love you Bill. Thank you. Through your eyes we connect to a universe filled with creative possibility.