Bill Moomey

bill-moomey-lrgBill Moomey was born and raised in Nebraska during the infamous Dust Bowl era. During those pre-TV, computer, and cell phone years, most of the after-school activities centered on sports.

At York High School, Bill was All-State on an undefeated football team, leading scorer on a state championship basketball team, and undefeated in the sprints and hurdles in track. He set an all-time record in the state pentathlon championship. Bill went on to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he excelled in track WILLIAM C. HOOK and played football for the Cornhuskers. At the York Nebraska Centennial Celebration, Bill was honored as “Athlete of the Century.”

While still in high school, Bill met Terrance Duren, a well-known New York illustrator, who had retired to his native Nebraska. Duren saw some of Bill’s drawings at a local art show and offered to teach him the fundamentals of painting.

At Duren’s insistence, Bill entered one of his early paintings in a national competition sponsored by Scholastic Magazine. The painting won fi st place and was subsequently hung in the Library of Congress. It later sold, and it was then that he realized that art could be more than just fun — it could be a vocation.

Bill was determined to be an artist, wherever that might take him. And it’s taken him many places; he’s an award-winning designer, film producer, rodeo champion, big band singer, hall of fame athlete, breeder of world champion quarter horses, and big game hunter.

Bill taught painting and design at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Colorado-Boulder. He was Director of the Denver Art Academy, Charter President of the Denver Art Directors Club and Co- Founder of the International Design Conference in Aspen, Colorado. Bill’s work is represented in 15 countries and is found in some of the most prestigious galleries and museums throughout the United States.

Today, Bill and his wife, Sandi, live in Vail, Arizona, where he paints and produces monumental bronzes at his X9 Ranch Studio.