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 Madison, VA.
The collection is open for research.
The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright, beyond that allowed by fair use, requires the researcher to obtain permission of copyright holders.
William Robert Gaines Personal Papers (SC-16). VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
The collection is organized into two series, and items are generally arranged chronologically within each folder. Items with no date are generally placed at the end of each folder.
During processing, original newspaper clippings were photocopied and the autobiography was removed from its original, deteriorating binder and placed into a folder. The binder was titled "Virginia Museum 1948-82" and was presented to Gaines when he retired from the Programs Division.
This collection was donated by William Gaines in March 2008. He donated the materials after he was interviewed for an oral history.