The following information was submitted in June of 2006 by his daughter Nina Brightwell Milam:

Studios: Vinalhaven,  ME; New York City, NY; Vero Beach,  FL

Studied: Art Students League of New York under Frank V. Dumond 1945-1950

Memberships & Affiliations:
American Watercolor Society; Allied Artists of America; Academic Artists Association; Florida Watercolor Society; Artists Fellowship; Salmagundi Club; NACAL  (Navy Combat Artist); Art Students League of NY (life); Grand Central Galleries of NY (life)
Formerly: National Arts Club; Society of Western Artists; American Artists Professional League

National Juried Shows:
National Academy Galleries, NY
National Arts Club,  NY
Springfield Art Museum,  MA
Ogunquit Art Center,  ME
Salmagundi Club,  NY

Invitational Group Shows:
Council of American Artists Societies, NY
Dayton Art Institute, OHIO
DeYoung Museum,  CA
Terry Art Institute,  FL
Smithsonian Institute,  Washington DC
White Museum,  TX
Coppini Museum,  TX
Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art, FL
Museum de la Marine,  Paris

One-Man Gallery Shows:
Glenn Cove,  NY; North Haven,  ME; Bethesda,  MD; Hobe Sound,  FL; Portland,  ME; Locust Valley,  NY; Washington,  DC; Elliot Museum of Stuart,  FL; Vero Beach,  FL

Awards:
George Burr Gold Medal: National Arts Club
Maud Mason Cash Award: National Arts Club
Cash Award: American Watercolor Society
Purchase Award: Allied Artists of America
Cash Award: Allied Artists of America
McCoy Cash Award: Academic Artists Association
Cash Award: Academic Artists Association
Markell Cash Award: American Artists Professional League
Lee Eaton Cash Award: Ogunquit Art Center
Arthur Hill Cash Award: Salmagundi Club
Gwynne Lennon Cash Award: Salmagundi Club
20 Cash Awards/1960-1979: Salmagundi Club
Cash Award: Florida Watercolor Society

Positions:
Director of American Watercolor Society; Director & Chairman Art Committee of Salmagundi Club; Director of American Artist Professional League; Secretary of American Artist Professional League; Chairman Art Committee of American Artists Professional League; Trustee of Artists Fellowship; Secretary of Artists Fellowship; Jury Services for Art Organizations.
 

The following is from a third party:

Walter Brightwell, Jr., divided his life into three parts: First: From his birth in 1919 in Temple Texas, until World War II. Of this time he writes that he "lived with the family and my little circle, never traveling." During this time he lived in Temple, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee.

Second: During World War II he entered the military and traveled to Georgia, Kansas, Washington State, New Jersey and then went on the Queen Mary to Scotland. He traveled to England, Algeria, Sicily, Italy. He made four Atlantic crossings.

Third: He studied art in New York at the Art Students League of New York.

Brightwell, Jr., did drawings and painting from a young age. For two years, prior to his military service he studied at a commercial art school in Nashville, Tennessee. Brightwell did many paintings and a number of them were issued as prints. He sometimes signed paintings "Westal" (his middle name was Estal). He painted a good deal on military themes, in the Northeast (i.e. Maine) and he lived the last 30 years or so in Florida (he lived in Vero Beach when we corresponded). He painted much of the landscape and nature of Florida.