Who was Gibby?

Born December 13, 1952, Gilbert W. Perry, Jr. was raised and lived in the Middletown area virtually all of his life. An alumnus of Middletown High School and the University of Delaware, he spent a brief but highly productive career in art and commercial advertising before his death in June, 1996.

“Gibby,” as he was known to friends and family, traveled the world for inspiration. He was influenced by the vibrant colors and textures of the Virgin Islands, where he lived for a period, and Europe, especially Italy, whose rhythm and sense of art history he seemed to tap into, and draw inspiration from. But in the end, it is his scenes of rural America, especially North and Central Delaware, that have the most universal and enduring appeal. He had an unerring ability to express the beauty and poetry in ordinary objects: a farmhouse, the roll of a hill, a sunflower or stalk of corn. Perhaps no other local artist has been as adept at finding and evoking Delaware’s pastoral history.

Throughout his career, Gibby used his talent to explore the question, “What is the value of art, and how does it fit into the larger scheme of things?” Comfortable in a variety of mediums, his legacy includes a collection of pencil and ink sketches, pastels, watercolors, acrylic and oil paintings.

In 2002, the Middletown citizen’s group, Associated Community Talents, Inc. (A.C.T. Inc.) announced plans to name the region’s first arts center, “The Gilbert W. Perry, Jr. Center for the Arts,” in his memory.