I learned about abstractionist, Sam Gilliam, at the Brooklyn Museum.

I stood in the museum, looking down at his work from the stairs. The more I stared, the more I could connect with it.

Ahhh, yes! Memories of my sophomore year in high school returned to me. Art club with Ms. Skelly!… the Met and The Gates by Christo and Jeanne- Claude…

While in high school, I couldn’t believe hanging up fabric for the public could be so exciting and fulfilling, but it was. My friends and I posed for photos and tried to touch the fabric blowing in the wind. We were given little squares of orange textiles, which I glued in my photo album.

I approached Gilliam’s work and read the text. I also researched him and enjoyed the backstory of how he came to paint canvas and let his work hang without restrictions. He was looking out the window in D.C. and noticed the cloths on the clothes line.