A Heart for Macon students: Northeast art teacher, Parker Cloud creator makes a difference

“Art is Life.”

Those words are the centerpiece of a mural that adorns the Randy Williams’ Northeast High School classroom. His students know him as Mr. Williams, the art teacher. 

Maconites know him as Randy Heart, the creator of the cartoon characters Parker Cloud and Friendz who Macon Magazine featured on the cover of its most recent leadership issue. 

“Randy Williams is my real name. That’s who I am. And then Randy Heart is who I aspire to be,” said Williams, whose love of art began with squeeze bottle paints and selling T-shirt designs to friends and family. 

Born in Virginia to parents who both served in the U.S. Navy, Williams lived all over the world, including Italy, Puerto Rico and South Carolina before moving to Macon
win 1997.  

He attended Appling Middle School when it was still located on Shurling Drive, a road along which he has painted several murals over the years. 

Williams graduated from Northeast High School and pursued a bachelor’s degree in fashion design and marketing. He taught elementary school in Maryland before moving back to
Macon. 

Four years ago, he returned to the school he once attended.

“I never thought I was smart enough to be a teacher. I felt like I was good at art, but I wasn’t confident enough to teach art,” Williams said, sitting at a cluttered table toward the front of his classroom.

The table is a reminder of the creative activities that take place there everyday, with crumpled scraps of paper, scissors, markers and colorful remnants of a drawing scattered across the surface.

Student art hangs on every cinder block wall and black and white photos of influential artists such as Amy Sherald, Frida Kahlo, Jeff Koons and Salvador Dali are taped to the
cabinets. 

It’s Jayza Wright’s first year in Williams’ class, but it’s already the best part of her school day.

“It’s like a time to wind down from all the stress,” she said. “I love the way he gets us to be more open. When I say more open, I mean he gets us to open up about ourselves.”

Just as Williams inspires his students, they’ve influenced his work, as well. Being a teacher, he said, has allowed him to approach his art with a child’s imagination, in which the sky’s the limit. 

Every artist has to nurture their talent like a plant, he explained, give it sun, talk to it and let it grow. 

He always encourages his students to harness their artistic power, reminding them that everything in life is art.

“The bus that you ride on, the color of your school, the texture of your hair. You are a walking art piece,” he said. 

Building a positive environment

Before his students can begin creating, Williams believes it’s important to understand their mental space and take the time to ask if they’re okay.

“What makes a good teacher is a teacher that provides a feeling of safety first, because a child’s not going to do anything until you grant them that,” he said, describing the issues his students face as “heavy.” 

There are kids in his class who don’t have stable home lives or have taken on roles they shouldn’t have to at their age. 

Within the decorated walls of his art room, Williams wants kids to just be kids. 

Enlisting Parker Cloud and a lineup of other characters, he hopes to show his students that friendship, kindness and being smart is cool.

“Coming from this culture and being Black in America. That’s what it is. It’s not cool to gain understanding first, to save a life. It’s cool to shoot first, beat up first,” Williams said. 

His superpower is his approach, he explained, he makes a point of talking to his students instead of at them and encourages them to choose understanding before anger.

“I’m creating a new image of a Black man, in my opinion, because I’m coming to you with love,” he said. “You can be from this community and be somebody.”

Williams’ love for each of his students shines through in his day-to-day interactions. 

One student stops by the art room after the school day has ended just to say hello. They exchange a handshake and the student throws a quick “Love you Mr. Williams,” over his shoulder as he leaves. 

“It’s just exciting to come to school to be greeted with love, because some kids aren’t greeted with love,” Northeast High custodian Tomeka Ridley told The Melody.

Making students feel seen

Williams hopes every student at Northeast High feels seen by him — a goal he has achieved year after year. 

Near the classroom door, colorful handwritten notes serve as a reminder of his impact on each student who passed through his art room over the years. 

One note reads, “It may not seem like it but I love that you help us on a daily basis and never give up on us. Because of you someone smiled today, gained more confidence, learned something new and felt inspired. You are a work of heart.”

Another says, “I might not pay attention all the time in class but I still listen.”

Williams doesn’t just look after his students’ emotional and mental wellbeing, he also ensures they’re fed, offering students and staff snacks, PB&J sandwiches or his mom’s homemade cookies. He credits what his mom used to tell him growing up, “If you feed the people, the people will always follow.”

“Some kids haven’t had a meal and we don’t know that because some kids don’t talk, but once they find that teacher they can talk to and feel safe with, they’ll open up,” Ridley said. “Mr. Williams is one of those teachers.” 

Williams doesn’t stop at food either; he looks at his students as his own kids and has helped pay for special events, such as proms and graduations. 

“He cares. A lot of teachers don’t care, but he cares about the students more than the job,” said student Amari White, who called Williams the best teacher ever.

On a Wednesday morning, cardboard boxes cut, shaped and glued to resemble giant Lego blocks litter Williams’ art room floor. His “scholars” are participating in a project he calls “Building Better Futures.” Each vibrantly painted Lego represents a student’s unique self, but when stacked together, the blocks embody a “collective growth.” 

Williams hopes to instill in his students a strong sense of community that they will continue to carry with them beyond the classroom.