Art has always been a part of Gary Kingcade’s life. As a small boy, about four years old, Gary Kingcade remembers his mother letting him draw during nap time. “My brothers were younger than me and while they slept I drew in my grandfather’s old ledger books,” Gary
reminisced. “I wonder what happened to those old books. I would love to have them now. I drew horses. I never had a horse. I have always had a love affair with horses,” he added. “I still paint them sometimes.”
Gary had a passion for art even at such an early age, and the passion has grown over the years. He began to excel in art in the first grade. “I got the most attention with my art in school. Mrs. Williams, my first grade teacher, developed a liking for my art and showed it to Glen Conway who taught art in junior high,” Gary said. “He came and saw me and bragged on my art. He kept up with me through college, and we reconnected when I came to Old High (Wichita Falls HighSchool) to teach in the 80’s,” Gary said. “We both taught. Glen was a great artist”, Gary exclaimed. “Later in life he even collected some of my paintings”.
Gary taught art for 40 years, with the first 2 or 3 years in elementary school. His higher education began with an art degree from Midwestern State University in the fall of 71 and then graduated in 81 with his Master’s Degree in Counseling. “I always had an interest in that. I was always fascinated by the visual arts and the human being. They are both so unpredictable,” he explained. “The intellectual part of the mind and the creativity of it. When I wrote my dissertation, I wrote about the artists versus the scientists. Art is impossible to grade and put a number on.”
The philosophical side of art is still influencing him, and much of it had to do with a professor named Larry Fleming. Larry was a character with Levis tucked in his boots, a long goatee and mustache, a blue jean shirt and long hair. This mentor took an interest in young Gary and gave him things to read on the philosophy of artists such as Piet Mondrian and Pablo Picasso. The artists were the authors of these readings and Larry would then discuss what Gary had read. “He opened my eyes to how much deeper art was than just creating art. It was a philosophy, and they were explaining what they were trying to express,” Gary stressed.
Gary is now retired from teaching and has a job as curator for the Kemp Center for the Arts. “I wanted to make art when I retired,” he said. “But I don’t sell much of my art now because my paintings are too personal. They are my therapy.” He does show his art at the Wichita Falls Art Association Gallery.
“My mom let me draw on my grandfather’s old ledgers, so yeah, I still get excited about art. If I ever got to the point that I wasn’t excited, I would quit,” Gary said. Let’s hope that never happens.
-Cindy Kahler Thomas
