Griff Williams (painter)

Griff Williams
Born (1966-01-23) January 23, 1966
Butte, Montana, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Montana (BFA)
San Francisco Art Institute (MFA)
Parents
RelativesWhitney Williams (sister)

Griff Williams (born January 23, 1966), is an American painter, publisher, art instructor, filmmaker, and gallerist.[1] He owned Gallery 16 art gallery (1993–2025). His paintings have been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide.

Early life, family, and education

Griff Williams was born on January 23, 1966, in Butte, Montana. His father, Pat Williams, was Montana's longest serving U.S. Congressman and was recognized by the New York Times as a "champion of wilderness protection, federal arts funding, and family-friendly social policies."[2] His mother, Carol Williams, served as the first female majority leader in the Montana Senate. His sister is businesswoman and, philanthropist Whitney Williams.[3][4]

Williams received a BFA degree from the University of Montana, Missoula in 1984; and a MFA degree from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1993.[1]

Career

In 1993, Williams founded Gallery 16 and Urban Digital Color in San Francisco, California.[5][6] For 32 years the gallery was a vibrant hub for the San Francisco arts community, before transitioning to a pop-up model in 2026.[7][8] The gallery has exhibited the works of many influential contemporary artists, including Margaret Kilgallen,[9] bell hooks, Paul Sietsema, Arturo Herrera, Rex Ray,[10] Michelle Grabner, Mark Grotjahn, Tucker Nichols,[11] and Ari Marcopoulos.[12]

Williams has been an instructor at the California College of the Arts, the San Francisco Art Institute, and Mills College.

His art work has been reviewed in Art in America, Frieze, Flash Art, SFAQ, and ArtNet.[13]

Williams is an outspoken advocate for the arts in San Francisco.[14] And he frequently speaks publicly on arts-related issues around the United States.[15][16]

He has also designed and published dozens of books with the Gallery 16 Editions imprint. His recent books include The Gay Seventies: Hal Fischer (2019), the first monograph to feature the complete collection of works Hal Fischer produced in San Francisco's Haight and Castro neighborhoods in the 1970s. Published by Chronicle Books in 2020, his book on the life and artwork of the late San Francisco artist Rex Ray includes essays by Rebecca Solnit and Christian Frock.

Williams wrote Jim Melchert: Where the Boundaries Are. Published in 2025 by Gallery 16, this is the first monograph on the influential career of Jim Melchert and includes essays by Sequoia Miller, Tanya Zimbardo, and Maria Porges.[17] He curated a traveling retrospective with the same title (Jim Melchert: Where the Boundaries Are) that premiered at the DiRosa Center for Contemporary Art in October 2025.[18]

Filmmaking

Williams and his son, filmmaker Keelan Williams made a documentary feature film, Tell Them We Were Here (2021).[19] The film is a documentary about eight artists living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area who are guided by a belief that creativity is a tool for societal change. The artwork of Amy Franchescini, Alicia McCarthy, Sadie Barnette, Lynn-Herhsman-Leeson, Nigel Poor, Jim Goldberg, Michael Swaine, and Tucker Nichols are featured in the film with music by Marc Cappelle, Kelley Stoltz, Tommy Guerrero, Vetiver, and Devendra Banhart. The film was selected by film festivals around the world, including DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival,[20] and Newport Beach Film Festival. Tell Them We Were Here was awarded Best Feature Documentary at the Nevada City Film Festival.[21][22] The San Francisco Chronicle gave the film its highest possible rating and stated, "the Williamses see art not as the exclusive domain of museums, galleries and collections, but as an essential component of a healthy society — something that can make communities not just more beautiful, but more functional."[23] The film has been screened in cities around the world, and at SFMoMA,[24] Stanford University,[25] and Orange County Museum of Art in California.[26]

Willams also created short documentary films for artists including Luminous Ground: Ala Ebtekar (2024),[27] for the Asian Art Museum and Richard Shaw.

Publications

  • Williams, Griff (January 16, 2026). "A message to S.F. Mayor Lurie: The demise of California College of the Arts is nothing to celebrate". San Francisco Chronicle.

References

  1. ^ a b Nickell, Joe (February 21, 2010). "Griff Williams paints own path through internal landscapes". The Missoulian. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  2. ^ Gabriel, Trip (June 28, 2025). "Pat Williams, 87, Last Montana Democrat to Serve in the House, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
  3. ^ "Stretcher | Features | Profile: Griff Williams". www.stretcher.org. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  4. ^ "Griff Williams: It Is Not Down In Any Map; True Places Never Are". missoulaartmuseum.org. Missoula Art Museum. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  5. ^ "Deep Cuts: Griff Williams on Rex Ray". www.sfmoma.org. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  6. ^ Wilson, Emily (September 19, 2022). "Rumors About Death of the Bay Area Art Scene Are Greatly Exaggerated". Hyperallergic. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  7. ^ Blue, Max (November 12, 2025). "Precarious SF art market squeezing out smaller galleries". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved May 8, 2026.
  8. ^ "SF's Rena Bransten Gallery will leave the Dogpatch". sfstandard.com. November 7, 2025. Retrieved May 8, 2026.
  9. ^ "Maria Porges on Margaret Kilgallen". www.artforum.com. May 1997. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  10. ^ "SF Artist Rex Ray (RIP) Gets the Major Retrospective Treatment This May". 7x7 Bay Area. April 25, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  11. ^ Chun, By Kimberly (January 21, 2015). "Tucker Nichols 'New Paintings' exhibit in full bloom". SFGATE. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
  12. ^ Nickell of the Missoulian, Joe (February 21, 2010). "Griff Williams paints own path through internal landscapes". missoulian.com. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  13. ^ Van Proyen, Mark (November 15, 2005). "Different Strokes". ArtNet.com. Artnet. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  14. ^ "Griff Williams talks building a career vs. a life in the arts, community over capital, and treating everything like an art project., Beyond the Studio". Beyond the Studio. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
  15. ^ "ON-SITE INSIGHTS// Griff Williams from Gallery 16 · Luma". luma.com. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
  16. ^ "Film Screening | Tell Them We Were Here". Stanford University. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
  17. ^ Bravo, Tony (December 14, 2025). "Stunning art and design books that celebrate Bay Area talent". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
  18. ^ Glendening, Daniel (April 16, 2025). "Jim Melchert: Where the Boundaries Are | October 18, 2025 – January 3, 2026 | di Rosa". www.dirosaart.org. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
  19. ^ Johnson, G. Allen (May 6, 2021). "Review: 'Tell Them We Were Here' shines a light on eight Bay Area artists". San Francisco Chronicle (review). Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  20. ^ Kaimin, Nancy Beston, Max Dupras, Anna Henning, Mariah Karis, Clarise Larson, Jack Marshall, Josh Moyar, Asa Metcalfe, Mariah Thomas, Haley Yarborough / Montana (February 17, 2022). "Big Sky Film Festival Preview". Montana Kaimin. Retrieved May 1, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ Admin-GNC (August 12, 2021). "21st Annual Nevada City Film Festival". Go Nevada County. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  22. ^ "'Tell Them We Were Here:' Sierra College Art Department, Nevada City Film Festival present film, Q&A with directors". The Union. February 23, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  23. ^ G. Allen Johnson (May 5, 2021). "Review: 'Tell Them We Were Here' shines a light on eight Bay Area artists". Datebook. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  24. ^ "Tell Them We Were Here". SFMOMA. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  25. ^ "Film Screening | Tell Them We Were Here". Stanford University. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  26. ^ "OCMA / Orange County Museum of Art". OCMA / Orange County Museum of Art. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  27. ^ "Creative Currents: Celebrating AAPI Art and Collaboration - Calendar - Asian Art Museum". Calendar. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
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