Busta’s Person of the Week: W-S native, artist Andre Phillips, to paint mural in honor of Tanisha Gist

By Busta Brown “I come from a big family. We all lived together in a trailer behind my grandmother’s house in Winston-Salem. I was really mischievous. I always wanted to know how stuff works, so I always got into a lot of stuff, but nothing bad,” said Andre Phillips.  His saving grace was his art. “I loved to draw, I was really good at it,” shared Andre. He got it from his mama. “My mom was an artist and my dad was a carpenter. But the crazy thing about it is my dad taught me how to draw a portrait.”  Andre’s gift is his photographic memory. “That’s how I drew my first self-portrait.” He remembered that day perfectly. “I ended up bringing it to church and when my grandma saw it, she actually said, ‘Damn!’ out loud in church! She was so amazed by how good it was.” As he shared the story, I laughed out loud. I could imagine the expressions on the faces of the pastor and congregation.   Although he began drawing at a very early age, it wasn’t until he was 26 that he realized art was his way out of the street life. “I got kicked...