HAAM & AAMP Founder, Aaron Williams Passes Away

(Press Release from Austin Art & Music Partnership)

HAAM & AAMP Founder, Aaron Williams Passes Away

Memorial Celebration, August 14^th, 2pm

AUSTIN, TX, August 10, 2010 ­— The Austin Art & Music Partnership (AAMP) is sad to report the death of Aaron S. Williams, co-founder and Director of the Austin Art and Music Partnership, who died last week at his home in South Austin.  A memorial celebration of his life is scheduled to be held on August 14^th, 2010 at 2:00p.m. at the Austin Art & Music Partnership (AAMP) Creative Space, 411 W. Monroe Street, downtown Austin, TX. 

For the past fifteen years, Aaron worked quietly behind the scenes to help untold numbers of artists and musicians secure support and services to make their lives and their community better.  As the founding architect of HAAM (Health Alliance for Austin Musicians), Aaron designed the organization structure that has since become one of the most successful and prominent non-profit organizations in Austin, including the SIMS foundation for mental health.  This ongoing dedication to the art and music community eventually became the mission of the Austin Art & Music Partnership (AAMP) —  a home for the creative class in Austin to come, work, heal and be. 

In other areas, Aaron was an inventor receiving a patent on a product that turns packaging waste into environmentally friendly building products.  He was a master at finding unused resources in areas where others never looked and using those newfound resources to build a better world.   He truly believed that if we worked together, and used our best talents, we could accomplish anything.  Family spokesperson, Truitt Ray, said of Aaron, “Generous and complex, Aaron was a vital man and singular individual.  We are stunned and fundamentally shaken by our loss.“

Aaron’s absence will be deeply felt throughout the community, and friends are asked to band together to ensure Aaron’s  “Vision” and the continued success of AAMP.  Donations to AAMP (www.austinamp.org) are encouraged.

About AAMP

Founded in 2008 by Peyton Wimmer and Aaron Williams of the SIMS Foundation, Austin Art + Music Partnership (AAM) is member of the great family of non-profits at the Austin Community foundation focused on supporting local artists.  Through a variety of programs, AAMP provide space and resources for artists to work (art space, workshop space for painting, sculpting, music and plays, etc.) in a comfortable, nurturing environment located in the South 1st Street area of Austin.  In addition, AAMP is in the process of raising funds for a free dental clinic for Austin residents and hopes to break ground in mid-late 2011.