William Robert Gaines Personal Papers (SC-16)

William Robert Gaines, known as "Buddy", was born in Madison County, Virginia in 1927. After entering the Army Specialized Training Program in 1945, followed by a brief time at Virginia Tech, Gaines briefly enrolled in the regular army and ultimately studied fine art and education at the Richmond Professional Institute. After graduation in 1950, he attended Columbia University’s Teacher’s College, earning a master’s degree. In 1956, Gaines spent time painting in Italy before returning to Virginia in 1957 to work at the Virginia Museum of Fine ARts where he would remain until 1982.

At VMFA, Gaines created a series of television programs on art for Virginia junior high school students that were ultimately broadcast in an additional 13 states. This led to three more series of programs, all focusing on art and art education. Also an accomplished dancer, Gaines performed in the first musical performed at the Virginia Museum Theater, “Kiss Me Kate”, and many other productions, including “Oklahoma”, “Carousel”, and “Too Darn Hot”. He was also the driver of the VMFA Artmobile in the 1950s, the first traveling art exhibition space. He died in May 2013 in Florida.