Meet Reggie Pinckney! Our Featured Young Artist of the Month!

Reginald Jay Pinckney Jr. is AFH's Renaissance man: from painting, to graphic design, to videography, and dancing, this sharply-dressed AFHer doesn’t limit himself to a single field of study. Instead, the world is his oyster, and life is his inspiration. And, as far as we’re concerned, nothing should stop him! After graduating from our program, co-founder and videography mentor Jason Talbot asked Reggie to continue on at AFH during his first year of college to provide mentoring to the younger artists and assist in the projects coming out of the video studio...and we are so psyched he did! Not only are we grateful to have him as part of the AFH Video Studio, but it was an amazing help that we could employ his artful eye to capture footage at this year’s GPOE! (Video and more pics of our 7th Annual epic GPOE to come...)

Following is a brief interview with Reggie, as well as paintings he did during his first year at AFH, and the videos he starred in and helped craft in our Video Studio! 


Special Bonus (below!): Check out his incredible dance crew, Pictures in Concrete! 

AFH: Where did you grow up?
RJPjr: Dorchester and Hyde Park  




AFH: How did you hear about AFH?
RJPjr: Jerome Shelton (AFH Painting mentor) persuaded me to apply.




AFH: When did you start working at AFH?
RJPjr: November of 2008




AFH: Did you work in any other studios at AFH?
RJPjr: I was in the paint studio for a year before moving to the video studio in early 2009.




AFH: What attracted you to video as an art form?
RJPjr: Honestly, I wanted to take advantage of all of the opportunities AFH has to offer and my original idea was to work in the Graphic Design Studio, but I didn't think I was ready to be working on the second floor since I was usually coming in late due to school and sports, and I didn't want the Graphics team to deal with that. I decided that the closest thing to graphic design is film, and both forms go hand in hand. In the video studio, I had the chance to learn a bit of Photoshop, After Effects, and Adobe Illustrator as well videography.

AFH: What was your favorite part of working GPOE?

RJPjr: My favorite part of working GPOE is capturing everything on camera and networking with successful people. Being able to hold a conversation with successful adults means a lot to me. 

AFH: Who is your favorite artist?

RJPjr: As the word art and what it means is still being explored, I have come to the conclusion that out of the many, many artists there are, I will never have a favorite.  

AFH:What is your dream job?

RJPjr: My dream job is to own some type of art business, whether it’s a clothing line or a film studio. I honestly have not decided one exact thing that I want to do. My current mission is to find a way to make a successful career using all of my talents 

AFH: Where do you dance with your crew, Pictures in Concrete?

RJPjr: I dance everywhere, but on Tuesdays, the group and I are fortunate enough to be able to use AFH's third floor painting studio to practice. On Saturdays, we rehearse at Originations. If we need more time to dance, we pay to rent out other studios in Boston. 

AFH: How did you get into dancing and what do you like about it?

RJPjr: As a child, I would mimic Michael Jackson’s dance moves, and around 7th and 8th grade, I began studying videos on youtube of this popper named Nam Hyun Jun. I would watch his videos so much that his freestyles became choreography for me. That is what sparked my dancing interests, and I started taking it extremely seriously about a year ago.

AFH: What’s been playing on your ipod lately?

RJPjr: I actually do not own an ipod or a cellular phone, but I listen to is pretty much anything I can feel. It’s hard to label the music I like because I listen to almost everything. My top choice of music to listen to would be something soft. Miguel is a fairly new artist that I enjoy listening to.

AFH: What inspires you?

RJPjr: Life inspires me. Just being alive makes me want to improve on everything I do. My friends inspire me, Artists for Humanity inspires me. Anyone who is around me as an artist or motivator inspires me.

AFH: Where do you see yourself in five years?

RJPjr: In five years I see myself as a bit more collected. I’ll be in college, but soon to be graduating with a second degree.  

Reggie workin' the camera at Saturday's GPOE!