School and the lack of it. (Part 4 of 4)
After I had established myself at The Greenbrier, where I operated my namesake gallery for twenty-five years, it was common for parents of budding artists to ask for my advice as to which college to send their kids. It was important to them because they wanted the best education for their kids, and all the advantages that that would bring. Ringling was among the very best, but what if their kid got the first color & design teacher that I did, and what if they were that years pick for his menacing psychodrama? Then, my recommendation would have led to disaster for that unfortunate student. My response to these parents was that it made no difference at all. They could send their kid to Fred’s college…and if their kid connected with Fred in a meaningful way, that might be the best education in the world. This was not what they wanted to hear.
What they were really asking was which college carried the best pedigree. What their kid learned was not as important as the degree they would attain. It’s understandable. We all want to stack the deck in our favor. No one really wants to attend the School of Hard Knocks. However, for me, The School of Hard Knocks was the university in which I learned my craft and attained my PhD.
Years later, I made a pilgrimage back to Sarasota and paid a visit to my old Color & Design instructor, Fiore Custode, and showed him some of my paintings. After all, he was the one to suggest to my parents that I leave The Ringling School of Art to look for a more elevated painting program. I was a little nervous because here was a man who taught advanced painting technique to third- and fourth-year Ringling students. The longer he peered at my work, the more unnerved I became. Finally, after what seemed to me to be an eternity, Mr. Custode looked up and said that the best thing to happen to me was that I hadn’t take any painting classes because, if I had, I’d most likely be painting like someone else. Here he saw an original style in its early stages of development. He encouraged me to keep on, in my own fashion, to develop my unique style. I shared with him how unbelievably frustrating it was having to learn everything through trial and error…and mostly error. He understood, but encouraged me to persist, insisting that the rewards in the end would be well worth it.
After learning of my experience in Florence… a result of following his advice, he had retold this story to every class he taught for the remainder of his many years as a Ringling instructor.
Fiore Custode went on to become the longest serving art instructor and senior faculty member in the history of the Ringling School of Art; later to become The Ringling College of Art and Design. He taught there for Fifty years.
