William Purinton Bomar Jr. (1919, Fort Worth-1991), known as Bill Bomar, was an American artist, and a member of the

Fort Worth Circle The Fort Worth Circle was a progressive art colony in Fort Worth, Texas. The colony was active during the 1940s and much of the 1950s and formed around younger artists, most of them native Texans under-30, who embraced themes not traditionally seen ...

. Supposedly Bomar's interest in painting was stimulated at the age of seven by his having his portrait painted by Murray Bewley. Bomar was taught oil technique by Sallie Blythe Mummert, and watercolour by Joseph G. Bakos of Santa Fe. From 1940 to 1941 Bomar was at the Cranbrook Art Academy, Michigan. Since youth, Bomar had spent the summer months in New Mexico. He moved permanently to Ranchos de Taos from New York in 1972, and died in Ranchos de Taos in 1991. Together with his cousin Reilly Nail, Bomar founded the

Old Jail Art Center The Old Jail Art Center (OJAC) is an art and regional history museum in Albany, Texas. It is housed in a former jail that was completed in 1878. After being replaced by a new jail in 1929, the old jail building was saved from demolition by local ...

Albany, Texas Albany is a city in Shackelford County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,034 at the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Shackelford County. History Established in 1873, Albany was named by county clerk William Cruger after his former ...

in 1980. The core of the museum's collection was formed from Nail's and Bomar's collections, with Asian art from the collections of their mothers. The museum has a strong holding of Fort Worth Circle art.

References

1919 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American painters Artists from Fort Worth, Texas Artists from New Mexico Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni {{US-painter-1910s-stub