John Monteleone

I was born in 1951 and raised in Queens NYC. I was considered by most of my early teachers and my parents to be slow. Coming from a family with many artist I found I was good at something I could express my feeling with art. It was not until 5th grade that one teacher realized I was dyslexic and helped me deal with it in a way that didn’t make me feel stupid.
High school was different I was angry at the direction our country was going and became a revolutionary. I took up causes and organized civil disobedience against the war and the Nixon administration. Creating art was my way of keeping it together. I excelled in it and was encouraged to pursue it by my sculptor teacher Ms. Graber who told me I had the hands of a surgeon and shouldn’t waste my talent. I will never forget her She gave me the gift of confidence.
I attended a two year city college under open enrollment majoring in art and psychology. Then transferred to Queens College at night taking art classes and managing an art supply store during the day.
You could say I have no real formal art education and I would be fine with that. Formal education and conformity was never my thing. Umberto Boccioni said “No fear is more stupid than that which makes us fear to trans...