Joyce Williams has attained a national reputation for her watercolor paintings and her works have gained consistent acceptance in juried exhibitions throughout the country. Awards totaling more than 130, plus three Gold Medals of Honor, four bronze medals and the gold and silver Brubacher medallions include those from the American Watercolor Society, Knickerbocker Artists, Allied Artists, Watercolor West, Salmagundi Club, National Arts Club, Audubon Artists, Kentucky Watercolor Society, Rocky Mountain Watermedia Association, Hudson Valley Art Association, and many more. Her work is included in private, corporate, and museum collections throughout the country and she is listed in Who’s Who in American Art and American Women in the Arts. Her work has been featured in several periodicals including Artist Magazine and North Light Magazine.

Ms. Williams is a graduate of Virginia Intermont College and the University of Kentucky. Joyce Williams was an Ashland native and resided in Lexington, Kentucky for a period of her life. She donated a portion of her collection of paintings for display, for sale, and for the Highlands Museum & Discovery Center’s permanent collections. The gift is a way for Mrs. Williams to bring the love of painting to people in her hometown.

Mrs. Williams said, “coming to the conclusion that I believe that gifts of this type are better to be returned to your roots,” Mrs. Williams decided to make a lasting contribution of her paintings to the Highlands Museum & Discovery Center and the people of Ashland, “where I lived and raised our family.”