William Avenel

When William Avenel retired from Navicent Health two years ago, he ended a long career in health care information technology and hospital administration. Retirement has given him the time to focus again on art. Although he and his wife were both born and lived most of their lives in New Orleans, when he retired they decided to remain in Macon. One of the reasons was the vibrant and interesting arts community here.

William holds a BA degree in Fine Arts (painting, sculpture) from the University of New Orleans and an MA degree in Fine Arts from the University of Alabama. While at Alabama his painting was influenced by Alvin Sella, Professor Emeritus; his sculpture was influenced by Angelo Granata, Chairman of the Department of Art. He has paintings and sculptures in public and private collections in four states. He also holds an MBA from the University of New Orleans; currently he is an adjunct instructor in economics at Middle Georgia State University.

His primary medium is oil painting, with some works in water color and acrylics. Lately he has been focusing on landscapes and occasionally returns to his “old” abstract style, and a touch of surrealism. Wood is his sculpture medium – he prefers welding but doesn’t have the equipment. Besides sculpture, he spends a fair amount of time building furniture on commission.

Prior to moving to Macon I was with Cape Fear Valley Health System in Fayetteville, NC. Besides managing the IT division, he also had responsibility for facilities management. As VP of facilities he was tasked with the development, planning and construction of a new hospital “wing” (actually a free-standing building). The budget for this facility include $200,000 for art work. He worked with the director of the Fayetteville Museum of Art to organize an exhibition from which he could select work for the new building. A call for artists was issued to submit samples of their work. From the images submitted he selected 50 to be exhibited at the Fayetteville Art Association. He then selected 36 works from the exhibit for purchase by the health system. He determined where in the five-story building each work should be hung, and then personally hung each of them.