William Conger,
Professor Emeritus,

William Conger is a Chicago-based abstract painter. His paintings on canvas, paper, and wood show ambiguous form alluding to both nature and to historical abstract painting. His work is often linked with “abstract-imagist” painting. He received his MFA from the University of Chicago in 1966. He is professor and chair emeritus of Art Theory & Practice at Northwestern University. Conger began exhibiting in1958 and has an extensive record of solo and group shows both in Chicago and nationally. These include a 50 year Retrospective at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2010. Museum collections include The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, The Indianapolis Art Museum, The Minneapolis Institute of The Arts, The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, The Illinois State Museum, The Wichita Art Museum, plus others nationwide. Conger’s art has been reviewed and featured in ARTnews, Art Forum, Art in America, Art Criticism, Arts Magazine, and others. He has completed several public art commissions, including major projects for the Chicago Public Transit Authority (CTA), McCormick Place, Chicago. Conger was included in ART50, 2025, in NewCity Magazine. His career record and oral Interview is in the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. His academic papers are in the Northwestern University Library Faculty Archives. 

Conger joined the Northwestern faculty in 1984 and was appointed professor of Art Theory & Practice in 1985. He retired in 2006 and was named professor emeritus.