Bill arter was a illustration artist and historian in the state of Ohio. The Columbus and Worthington resident Arter wrote and illustrated the stories of many Columbus and Ohio landmarks in the Columbus Dispatch Magazine in his weekly feature "Columbus Vignettes." From 1964-1971 his talents as writer/illustrator and his passion for researching and exploring old houses were combined in weekly articles, which eventually became four hardbound volumes. In 1975 the articles about locations in Worthington were published in a separate volume entitled "Worthington Vignettes". In the 1950s Arter was published in the Dispatch in features on diverse Ohio subjects from the interurban, the Blennerhessett family, Ohio artist David Blythe, to Edgar Mix, world famous balloonist. Further, Arter was Creative Director and Vice President of an advertising firm and teacher at O.S.U. and Ohio Wesleyan. He also painted watercolors of favorite buildings throughout central Ohio.
Bill was not so much a newspaperman as an artist whose work appeared in the newspaper. He loved Columbus and loved digging into its stories, and he was best known for his "Columbus Vignettes" series in the Dispatch's Sunday magazine. It ran from March 1964 to July 1971, and its 350 installments were collected in a four-volume series of books. They're out of print now, but still can be found in dusty used-book shops.
But he did a lot more than just his "Vignettes." He taught advertising and journalism classes for almost 20 years at Ohio State and Ohio Wesleyan. He was vice president and creative director at the Byer & Bowman advertising agency and was widely known for his watercolors. He worked in advertising for several Columbus industrial companies, wrote features for Advertising Age and wrote parts of advertising textbooks. An OSU graduate, Arter lived with his wife Mary on Dover Court in Riverlea and had several children. His busy and creative life was cut short by cancer at the age of 60 in March 1972.