Rarely has an artist ever focused as much attention on his home city and home state. No other artist has ever developed such a unique niche in the history of Charleston, the capital city of West Virginia. Few other artists have ever caused us to look so closely into his pictures and at the same time look so closely at our surroundings. That artist is william d. goebel.

And it all happened by “coincidence.”

When william d. goebel focused his pen on the historic architecture of Charleston, West Virginia he figured he'd do a few drawings here and there, perhaps using a few as gifts. After selling one drawing while a student at West Virginia University, he sold his next drawing at the age of thirty for the amazing price of $25.00. Since then, he has produced and sold hundreds of original drawings and thousands of prints and his style has become immediately recognized by West Virginians living throughout the world.

A self-taught artist, known to his friends as "the artking", the former educator aimed to teach through his drawings, his books, and occasional public appearances. As a supporter of lifelong learning, Goebel felt it imperative not only to learn something new each day, but also to continue to teach, in some way, every day. His favorite subjects were his home city, county and state and he studied their history both formally and informally since as early as the eighth grade.

After Goebel picked up a pen and began to draw local subjects for use as note cards, Jack Trail and Victor Weigand, owners of PRO ART, a local art supply store, suggested that he produce a limited edition print from one of his drawings. That was almost thirty years and hundreds of titles ago. His work grew from simple black and white "scribble sketches", to huge, highly detailed originals, and he added color to his work. His work is now available in galleries and art and craft fairs throughout the state.

Goebel credited his success to 20% talent and 80% determination. He struggled at one point in his career to remove what he perceived to be imperfections from his work until a dear friend reminded him that it is the imperfection that gives his work that air of character and uniqueness.

Goebel graduated in 1973 from Concord College in Athens, West Virginia with a Bachelor's degree in Education and in 1979 from the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies, with a Master's, also in Education. He took post-Masters work at Columbia and Long Island Universities. In 1984 he was a Humanities Fellow at Georgetown University as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities project entitled "The Odyssey Institute".

Goebel passed away in August of 2005, but he left a diverse and engaging body of work that is a testament both to himself, and to the city and state that he loved so dearly.

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