Coal Miner Turned Artist Depicts American Workers

"I believe coal miners and other blue-collar workers are the foundation of our country." said L.U. 6363 member Thomas Elmo Williams of Helper, Utah, "and I just hope to do justice to them through my paintings."

The coal miner-turned-artist paints what he knows best: laboring men and women, at work and at rest. "America's blue-collar workers of the past as well as the friends and acquaintances I've made through my work."

A native of West Virginia, the 45-year-old Williams worked as an underground coal minder in Hiawatha, Utah, for 14 years before work-related injuries--resulting in six operations on one of his legs--forced him to leave the industry in 1990. His underground experiences--surviving a series of mining accidents--nurtured his desire to immortalize his fellow miners through his paintings.

"I was buried underground," he recalled. "It was black, cold and wet. I could not see. My mouth was filled with rock dust. I was hurt. As my mind cleared, my senses kicked in and I heard the voices of men who were going to do their best to save me from a life-threatening situation. I am saddened by the memory of many friends and co-workers woes lives were claimed by the mines. Through my depiction of them, they will remain alive in my heart and in my memory."

When he left the mines at 35, Williams had never painted anything. After graduating with honors from the College of Eastern Utah, he embarked on his new career in 1994. He wanted to express himself in the arts and began painting in acrylics and oils. His career took off when his mentor--local artist and gallery owner David Richey-Johnsen, encouraged him to paint the working class. Drawing from his life long mining experiences, WIlliams started puttingon canvas some of the scenes and images that had an impact on his life--coal miners at work and at play as well as old mining and railroad towns that once dotted Carbon County's landscape.

"I take my subjects very seriously," Williams explained, "because they have a message for us all. Art does not exist merely to entertain. It can play a role in the improvement of our collective existence. Through visual education and persuasion, art can participate in the development of popular attitudes, which can eventually lead to a better society."

Today, as a flourishing artist, Williams has exhibited his colorful paintings in galleries in California and Utah. He recently donated one of his works, "The Tipple at Hiawatha," to the Western Mining and Railroad Museum in Helper. He also plays a major role in his hometown's cultural development and helps orchestrate its annual arts festival.

taken from Journal united mine workers jan-feb 2002