Georgia Magazine - January 2020 - 22D

Former WYT delegates show artistic touch

Frankie Brown

One of Dylan Mulligan's
sandcastle creations
depicts Glennville
United Methodist
Church.

MIKE A. MULLIGAN

ince a young age, I
have been involved in
community life and
enjoy giving back and serving
at every opportunity. That-coupled with my interest in history,
politics and law-converged and convinced me that I could best
serve my hometown of Glennville as an attorney. I had already
settled on that career path well before I attended the Washington Youth Tour, but the Youth Tour solidified my choice.
I grew up spending my summers on the beautiful coast,
boating and building sandcastles on Blackbeard Island. Blackbeard is an undeveloped wildlife refuge, accessible only by boat.
When I was 4 years old, I learned to build "drip" castles using mud. The drip castles grew to include small, hand-stacked
towers and walls. As I got older, the towers and walls became
larger and more elaborate. Then came arches, bridges, doors,
windows and other fine details. In more recent years, I have
begun using custom tools, which enable me to build larger and
far more elaborate creations.
The most meaningful sandcastle I have built would have
to be my replica of the historic Glennwanis Hotel in Glennville.
I am a member of the Friends of the Glennwanis Hotel, a
nonprofit organization raising funds to restore the hotel as a
home for our local museum and for community use. All profits
I generate from the sale of my books, prints or other products
related to my sandcastles are donated to the restoration of the
Glennwanis.
To prospective WYT delegates: If you are like me, the
WYT will be the greatest civics lesson of your life. It will have a
profound impact on you and will enable you to truly understand
just how richly God
has blessed us all to
be Americans.

The Georgia Sandman,
thegeorgiasandman.
square.site; facebook.com/
thegeorgiasandman;
facebook.com/glennwanis; bit.ly/glennwanisfriends

22D

Georgia Magazine

January 2020

2004 WYT delegate
(Okefenoke REMC, Nahunta)
2017 WYT chaperone
Artist
Art teacher, Lincoln County

CARLIN GIBSON

2010 WYT delegate
(Canoochee EMC, Glennville)
Attorney in Tattnall County
Known as "The Georgia Sandman"
for his elaborate sandcastles

LAURA MULLIGAN POPE

Dylan Mulligan

rt is a vulnerable subject, and kids make
good art only when
they feel safe. Most students
Art teacher Frankie Brown works
with ninth-grader Grace Deal.
who don't like art don't like it
because they believe they are
not good at it. If I can break it down for students to understand
or show them a genre of art they can relate to, I can usually hook
them in some way.
I want students to understand that I don't care if it's "good"!
I just want them to create. I want them to think. I want them to
connect. I started gaining confidence in my art when I stopped
worrying whether it was good. I want kids to know that too.
Mostly, I paint with acrylics. But I love working with clay and
making paper and bookbinding. I've also gotten the opportunity
to do quite a few murals, and I love painting on that scale.
My great-grandmother was a painter, and I spent a lot of
time with her. Her house was filled with easels and oil paints
and paintings of ships. All of her sons were artists-painters,
photographers, sculptors. My grandfather would take me to art
museums and bring home stacks of cardboard from the paper
mill where he worked so my brother and I could draw.
My mother and father are very creative. My mom used to
collect all of the broken wood from our karate expositions and
make art with it. My older brother is a working artist in LaGrange. All of those people had a great influence on my art.
To prospective WYT delegates: You will be surrounded by
greatness the whole trip! Take it in. You will learn a lot from the
places you will go, but the people will impact you the most. Step
out of your comfort zone. Talk to new people. Give a good, firm
handshake. And
definitely, definitely keep up with
whom you meet!

Left: This painting by
Frankie Brown was
done completely with
nontraditional supplies.
"I used sticks, old credit
cards, my hands and a
fork," she says. "It was a
freeing experience."
Frankie Brown's art: frankienicole.com, facebook.com/frankienicole

http://thegeorgiasandman.square.site http://thegeorgiasandman.square.site http://www.facebook.com/thegeorgiasandman http://www.facebook.com/thegeorgiasandman http://www.facebook.com/glennwanis http://www.bit.ly/glennwanisfriends http://www.frankienicole.com http://www.facebook.com/frankienicole

Georgia Magazine - January 2020

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