Jobs from A to Z – A Bill Franz Exhibit

The work of Dayton artist Bill Franz returns to Dayton Metro Library in a new exhibit, Jobs from A to Z – A Bill Franz Exhibit. The exhibit is a collaborative effort between Franz and his father-in-law, Wally Willaman, age 101, that mingles photography and digital art together to form engaging pieces representing 26 different jobs, each one beginning with a letter of the alphabet.  

The idea for this exhibit came about when Franz decided he wanted to make the most of the time he spent with Willaman, who has memory loss. Franz thought that by working on a project together, they could stay focused on the present instead of the past. They spent time combining photographs into digital collages, discussing jobs to represent and what colors to use, and generally had a fun time working together.  

Franz said working with his father-in-law on this project led to him “creating better art.” While Franz incorporated what of Willaman’s ideas he could, the best part of working with Willaman was that in talking about the drafts, Franz was able to decide how to proceed to a finished product. “Also, Wally liked to review the finished pieces every time we got together,” Franz adds. “That constant review was something I’d never done before, and it led me to make numerous small improvements.” 

In the end, both had fun creating the exhibit’s images and working together. Perhaps the best takeaway from Jobs from A to Z is to know that the notion of someone being too old to work is a myth. When asked what he wanted people to know about working with Franz, Willaman replied with, “Tell them that even when people are my age, you can still squeeze some work out of them.” 

This isn’t Franz’s first exhibit to be showcased at the Main Library. In August 2021, when DML hosted the Undesign the Red Line Exhibit, Franz’s In the Neighborhood (a 2019 collection of photographs depicting the lives and people of the different neighborhoods throughout Dayton) became a popular companion art exhibit.  

Jobs from A to Z – A Bill Franz Exhibit will be on display at the Main Library, in the 2^nd Floor Gallery, through Sunday, November 5. 

Information about Franz and his work can be found by visiting billfranz.smugmug.com. For more information about the exhibit at the Main Library, please call the Library’s Ask Me Line at 937.463.2665.