1st Grade Art class (yes I still remember)

Mr. Gibboney (I might be misspelling) introduced me to Van Gogh in the 1st grade. I remember this because I specifically remember anyone who's ever taught me anything. He was a really whimsical and spirited man and I just picture him walking around our desks while talking to us instead of speaking to us from the front of the class like every other teacher. He was the kind of teacher who would have had us call him by his first name if we had been a little older. But anyway, in my memory, Mr. Gibbony looked just like Andy Warhol and walked with with big hand gestures and honestly “swag” for lack of a better word. (lol)

He was really an art teacher and he was the first person to show me that the world doesn’t have to be so literal. The stars don’t have to be yellow, the sky doesn’t have to be blue and the grass doesn’t have to be green. And it seems really obvious but I was a kid and no one had ever explicitly told me that. So that day he changed the way I looked at everything and it was probably one of my first “kid epiphanies.”

Anyway, I remember there was a hospital in the Bronx trying to get art for their gallery. They were looking through everything made at our school and it was announced that only one person’s art got selected from our class. I specifically recall praying under my breath, for it to be me, while very much not expecting it to be at the same time.

Suspense time… It wasn’t me… Just kidding. lol It was me!!! My art got picked!! And I was SHOCKED. I literally felt like one of those sincerely shocked winners at the Grammys with their hands over their mouth. lol That was such a big deal to me really because I never really saw myself as artistic.

I thought about all of this because I went to my mom’s house in the Bx the other day and I not only found the piece of art that was selected (lmao it’s not for sale), but also a pic of Mr. Gibboney!!! Here are the pics and just a reminder of how important art can be. Also be aware of the life-long impression you can make in other peoples’ lives. Thank you Mr. G!! I’ll never forget you.

-Angel