# Bill Zacha

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{{short description|American artist}}
'''Bill Zacha''' (born 1920 in [Garland, Texas](/source/Garland%2C_Texas), died March 18, 1998, at [Fort Bragg, California](/source/Fort_Bragg%2C_California)) was an artist and entrepreneur who founded the Mendocino Art Center in [Mendocino, California](/source/Mendocino%2C_California), and by doing so started the artistic revival of Mendocino.<ref name="look">{{cite magazine |first=Chandler |last=Brossard |title=A young man saves an old town |magazine=[Look](/source/Look_(American_magazine)) |date=September 25, 1962 |url=https://www.williamzacha.com/artists/william-zacha/legacy/ |via=WilliamZacha.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/381548483 |title=Mendocino—Newest Art Colony in U.S. |newspaper=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |date=January 12, 1964 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com) |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/05/17/archives/article-11-no-title.html |newspaper=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |date=May 17, 1970 |first=A. F. |last=Dalbey |title=Mendocino Where Squares, Longhairs Mix}}</ref><ref name="map">{{cite news |title=The artist who put Mendocino on the map |newspaper=[The Press Democrat](/source/The_Press_Democrat) |date=December 17, 1995 |first=Susan |last=Swartz |id={{ProQuest|280631167}}}}</ref><ref name="lat">{{cite news |title=Bill Zacha; Founded Mendocino Art Center |newspaper=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |date=March 20, 1998 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-20-mn-31044-story.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Founder of Mendocino artist mecca dies: Zacha reputation known globally |newspaper=[The Press Democrat](/source/The_Press_Democrat) |date=March 19, 1998 |first=Amy |last=Schlein |id={{ProQuest|280738298}}}}</ref>

==Biography==
Zacha studied architecture at the [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California%2C_Berkeley), spent four years in the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) entertaining troops as a writer and actor during [World War II](/source/World_War_II), and later made unsuccessful forays into the priesthood and drama. Returning to Berkeley to continue his architecture studies, he supported himself as a [cable car](/source/cable_car_(railway)) conductor, but dropped out after injuring his right hand in a fall. He moved to [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), where he studied art at the [Corcoran Gallery](/source/Corcoran_Gallery) and learned to paint left-handed.<ref name="khm" /> While in Texas in 1953 for a [Houston](/source/Houston%2C_Texas) exhibit of paintings he had made in Italy, he met his future wife Jennie Malone, a fashion designer.<ref name="khm" /><ref name="maaes" /> He then moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area and worked as a mail carrier while he earned a teaching credential at [San Francisco State University](/source/San_Francisco_State_University).<ref name="khm">{{cite web |first=Chuck |last=Bush |url=http://www.kelleyhousemuseum.org/history-articles/zachas/ |title=The Zachas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430214422/http://www.kelleyhousemuseum.org/history-articles/zachas/ |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |work=[Kelley House Museum](/source/Kelley_House_Museum) |access-date=October 6, 2020}}</ref>

The Zachas moved to Mendocino, then nearly a [ghost town](/source/ghost_town), in 1957, and Zacha took a job as a high school teacher.<ref name="look" /> Hearing about plans to build a trailer park on the {{convert|1|acre|m2|adj=on}} former Preston estate (one of the settings for the 1955 film ''[East of Eden](/source/East_of_Eden_(film))'', but badly damaged in a subsequent fire), he borrowed $50 for a down payment,<ref name="maaes">{{cite book |title=Mendocino Artists: An Endangered Species |editor-first=William P. |editor-last=Brazill |publisher=North Coast Rural Challenge Network |year=2000 |isbn=0-9627007-5-4 |contribution=Bill and Jennie Zacha |pages=1–2}}</ref> bought the estate for $5500,<ref name="msca" /> and in 1959 founded the Mendocino Art Center on the site.<ref name="mac">{{cite web|access-date=October 1, 2023|title=MAC History|url=https://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/mac-history|website=Mendocino Art Center}}</ref> Zacha also ran a combination laundry/art gallery and restored many other buildings in Mendocino.<ref name="look" />

In 1964, Zacha traveled to [Japan](/source/Japan), where he met Japanese artist [Tōshi Yoshida](/source/T%C5%8Dshi_Yoshida). Yoshida taught at the Mendocino Art Center in 1971, and after returning to Japan founded an art center in [Miasa, Nagano](/source/Miasa%2C_Nagano) based on his experiences in Mendocino. Zacha's friendship with Yoshida became the basis for a [sister city](/source/sister_city) relationship between Mendocino and Miasa, formalized in 1980.<ref name="map" /><ref name="msca">{{cite web |url=https://www.mendosca.org/history |title=History |website=Mendocino Sister Cities Association |access-date=October 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Japanese students arrive for week-long visit |newspaper=[The Press Democrat](/source/The_Press_Democrat) |date=August 3, 1996 |id={{ProQuest|280705019}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Mendocino hosts Miasa sister city group |newspaper=[The Mendocino Beacon](/source/The_Mendocino_Beacon) |date=May 25, 2006 |first=Connie |last=Korbel}}</ref> Zacha's series of 55 [serigraph](/source/serigraph)s depicting the [Tōkaidō road](/source/T%C5%8Dkaid%C5%8D_(road)) in Japan is collected in his book ''Tokaido Journey'' (1985).<ref name="map" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120315192742/http://www.williamzacha.com/bill_bio.php Bill Zacha: A Life Well Lived].
*{{citation|title=''The Keeper of Dreams: Bill Zacha, Founder of the Mendocino Art Center''|first=Beverly|last=Kjeldsen|year=1995|publisher=Wine Press}}.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zacha, Bill}}
Category:Artists from California
Category:People from Garland, Texas
Category:People from Mendocino, California
Category:1920 births
Category:1998 deaths
Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II
Category:UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design alumni

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bill Zacha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Zacha) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Zacha?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.