William Dole was born in Angola, Indiana in 1917 and completed his artistic training at Olivet College, Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley. In the 1940s he joined he California Water Color Society and had solo shows of his work at the De Young Memorial Museum, the La Jolla Museum, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.

Dole was a prolific artists and highly respected teacher. Throughout his career he taught at Indiana, Washington State, Mills College, and the Universities of California at Berkeley. After settling in Santa Barbara, CA he became the chairman of the art department at Universities of California, Santa Barbara.

Dole is best known for his collage work, but he was also a skilled printmaker, watercolorist, and abstract painter. One of Dole’s well-known print series is entitled, “Objects of Art Suite,” which was printed at Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles and was done in collaboration with master printer John Sommers and fellows John Butke, Wayne Kimball, Ronald Kraver, Wayne Simpkins, John Will and the Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, NM.

His artworks are held in the museum collections of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Mills College Art Museum, Museum of Art at Brigham Young University, Oakland Museum of California, Phoenix Art Museum, San Diego Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Smith College Museum of Art, and Brooklyn Museum of Art.