Bill McGrath, Vice President

Bill McGrath is a Water Street Studios Board member and a long-time (1978) resident of Batavia. As an attorney he represented the City of Batavia, and loving working in his own community, changed careers in 1998 and became Batavia's City Administrator, from which position he retired in 2016. He serves as the chair of the Fundraising Committee.

He witnessed and was active in Batavia's growth surge of the 80's and 90's, and was particularly active in the downtown, the "heart" of Batavia, where he championed infrastructure improvements, but in a manner which strengthened community, such as the River Street "woonerf", its arch and custom fencing, "Storehenge" a monument to downtown business and industry, and the sculpture pedestals on the Donovan Bridge to mention a few. He is most proud of the City's instrumental support in the creation of Water Street Studios, the Art in Your Eye art festival, and Art in Your Ear, a songwriting competition.

In retirement, Bill is engaged in his passion of large-scale metal sculpture. His works have been exhibited in several Illinois communities, including Chicago, Aurora, and Rockford, and has also shown as in Iowa and Indiana.

Bill is married with 4 children and 6 grandchildren. He plays guitar and spends a lot of time in the North Woods of Wisconsin.

You can reach Bill at vicepresident@waterstreetstudios.org