The Full Story of
Bill Prevatte
My welding journey began in the dry dock shipyard in Newport News, VA back in 1963. After graduating from welding school I stayed on with the shipyard welding on different Naval ships and submarines for five and a half years. I then moved back home to Proctorville, NC where my family was. I got a new job in Charlotte, NC welding rail cars. I did not stay there long due to the working conditions being so filthy. Looking for work elsewhere I then joined the Iron Workers Union out of Charlotte welding structural steel.
After some time the Local 227 Plumbers and Steamfitters Union out of Columbia, SC caught wind that I was pretty good at pipe welding. They called me out to Columbia to take a pipe welding test and offered me a job on the spot. So I left the Iron Workers Union and started welding main steam and chill water pipes in nuclear power plants. Five and a half years later I decided I wanted to do something different so I left and went to work for Dupont welding stainless steel pipe for chemical manufacturing. I worked for Dupont for 12 years when my local school district started looking for a welding instructor. I taught school at Hilly Branch (the Robeson County Carrier Center) for 28 years and finally retired in 2002.
Though I have made many sculptures throughout the years after retirement I started doing more sculpture work. In 2007 I donated “The Tree of Life” to the University of North Carolina Pembroke where it still sits today. In 2013 I started attending and showing my work at the Cauldwell Sculpture Show in Lenoir, NC where I have won several awards. In 2014 I showed one of my pieces in the Camerson Arts Center in Wilmington NC. In 2019 I joined our local Lumberton Art Guild where I have several sculptures on display. Many of my pieces after showing I keep in my personal collection to decorate my gardens in Fairmont, NC.
