Journey of Mentorship

Gary Garbett, Senior Communications Lead for VCU Technology Services, has been named Fulbright Specialist for higher education communications and creative advertising mentorship.

Fulbright Specialists are competitively selected based on their knowledge, skill sets, and ability to contribute to global educational projects. The Specialist Roster includes a group of experts who represent a wide range of professional and academic disciplines.

Upon acceptance, Fulbright Specialists remain on the roster for three years. During their tenure, they are matched with projects from more than 150 countries designed by host institutions. Project placements are assigned a time frame of two to six weeks.

“My higher education introduction began as a full-time VCU Art Foundation student in the fall of 1983 while also working a full-time job and starting a family,” says Gary. “Every college student’s path is unguided and unique. Mine certainly was, and that path was mine to make.” Over the next 30 years, Gary earned his undergraduate and two Master’s degrees from VCU, each with honors. Later this month, forty years to almost the exact day of his first VCU class in Franklin Terrace, Gary will begin his next Master’s program concentrating on Media Communications and Leadership from the VCU Robertson School of Media and Culture. “I’m an optimistic life learner.

Mentoring aspiring artists and designers has become significant in my professional journey.

“Organic design of curiosity with planned negative space has always mattered. As an award-winning communication professional and a nationally exhibiting artist, mentoring aspiring artists and designers has become significant in my professional journey,” says Gary. “After a long and rewarding innovative career path, my ability to share and provide direction to others has been a natural progression. It’s allowed me to expand my art prowess while equally growing as a mentor. I’ve welcomed this role as a professor, working with new design interns and hosting visiting international students. Being involved and giving back through each of these relationships is always rewarding and honest.” 

“Being selected for a Fulbright tenure is such a prestigious recognition. I am extremely honored and look forward to being matched with an institution where I can positively impact educational communications while also encouraging students to explore their unique and individual path with purpose.” 

I’m a stickler for details, committed to good design, and was awarded second place in a Cap’n Crunch drawing contest when I was nine years old.

As an approved candidate on the Fulbright Specialist Roster, Gary’s tenure is scheduled through August of 2026. The Specialist program, part of the larger Fulbright exchange offering that includes Fulbright Scholars, pairs U.S. academics and professionals with institutions abroad to share expertise, strengthen relationships, hone skills, gain international experience, and learn about other cultures.

Founded in 2001, the Fulbright program sends 400 U.S. academics abroad each year to complete projects in 160 participating countries. This program was established by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Farewell Token With a Wink

Blackstar

Just as it does each morning, my alarm woke me at 5AM. Lying in bed on that Monday morning, just before my feet hit the cool floor, I laid in the dark while reading the message in my day's first email. In an emotional awe, I again read and reread the short email over and over, "Have you heard the news about the passing of an absolute genius and legend?"  I was stunned.  Just hours after I had spent most of the weekend listening to several albums from his classic library, David Bowie was dead.

David Bowie's Blackstar album arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon. This morning I carefully unwrapped the cellophane from the CD and paired it with a fresh cup of coffee for my 6AM commute. I was not disappointed. Blackstar is an album of incredible artistic integrity, beauty, voice, and pure creative experimentation. Plenty has been written following the news of Bowie’s passing about this being his planned farewell gift to his fans. In hindsight, Blackstar certainly plays out in that fashion, and it does so as only Bowie could deliver with genius vision and originality. Blackstar is a masterpiece.

My long commute was nearly the same length as the cd. As I was nearing the campus-parking garage, I noticed the car a good distance in front of me, wondering if what I thought I saw really was. With the red traffic light ahead, I closed the gap between that car and mine. Just as I was the week before, I found myself in awe once again before the sun had a chance to rise. It turns out that my distance vision hadn’t played tricks on me after all. Reading the license plate, I shook my head in disbelief, turned up the music just a bit more, and smiled.

Tokens are gifts. Thank you, Starman.

Ziggy

Valued Upbringing

New Supplies

The morning air was fresh as I sat on the porch chair overlooking the lake. I took a sip of coffee from either my second or third cup. A fresh pot was brewing. This is my studio for the week. Taking another sip, I noticed the package with three paintbrushes that had never left the package. Upon reading the store sticker, I remembered the day that I bought them. It was a rainy February afternoon in 2001. Earlier in the morning, I opened a brand new tube of paint. I’d purchased it in 1988. I dipped the tip of the new brush into the line of neutral gray before mixing it with cerulean blue and applying it to my painting.

Pouring a fresh cup of coffee, I thought about my morning discoveries. None of them really came as a surprise. I’ve always been respectful, protective, and frugal with my belongings. I’m sure that my Daddy had something to do with that. He was a tinkerer. Not for the hobby of it, but as a means to keep things working. We were a working-class family, which doesn’t mean we didn’t have nice things. We didn’t have an abundance of them. What we had, we took care of because disposable was not in our vocabulary. If I broke it or lost it, then I was simply without. I respect my upbringing.

Lakefront Studio

Locking myself away for this inspired retreat has been engaging. Days are backed up to days of my thoughts and creativity. Soul searching seems far too cliché, yet it defines the time away as good as anything that comes to mind. Though it took a few days for me to settle in, my temporary studio overlooking the lake has become quite an inspiring space.

Dipping the brush back into the mixed paint, I added another stroke. The figure in the painting is a life vibrant man preparing to pitch a horseshoe. He’s respectful, protective, and frugal with his game. I’d be willing to bet that points were added to his team’s score after his toss. Daddy always did.