Remembering William (Bill) L. Fischer (1918-2018)

Remembering William (Bill) L. Fischer (1918-2018)

For most all of his life, Bill had been an artist, beginning at about age 11, and later attended the University of Louisville on an art scholarship in 1937, the first year for the art department. He studied with the world famous muralist, David Alfaro Siqueiros in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for a year, and where, in later years, he maintained a winter home. Bill's art has been locally acclaimed and exhibited many times over the years. His prominent work has included the design of the stained glass windows at Keneseth Israel Congregation on Taylorsville Road. He was a US Army veteran of WW II, and very early on, worked for the Louisville Courier-Journal and Times in layout and as an illustrator. This was prior to founding and then retiring as owner of the old Fischer's Men's Shoes on Market St. and on Jefferson St., whereupon he became a very successful investor and philanthropist.

During his long career as an artist, he also encouraged and supported young artists. He established the Bill Fischer Working Artist scholarship fund which funded scholarships in studio art at area colleges and universities including the University of Louisville. Recently this fund was refocused toward artists beginning their professional careers. He was also a long-time and consistent donor to the BFA and MFA programs in the Department of Fine Arts. He established the Bill Fischer Senior Project Grant, awarded each semester to the most promising students in both 2-D and 3-D studios based on their BFA review, to aid in the mounting of their BFA Senior Exhibition. He provided underwriting for off-campus BFA studios at Our Mother of Sorrows and was a long-time and consistent donor to the MFA program through his generous and ongoing donations to the MFA Studio Building currently under renovation in Portland neighborhood.

Photo of Bill Fischer by Renée Murphy