Mike Pitcher

What inspired your most recent tattoo?

I told everyone (teachers and staff) that when I retired, I would get all tatted up; full sleeves and everything. For Principals Day, instead of a corny gift, they all took up a collection to “start on my sleeve”. I just had to start with my school’s mascot! No one could believe it & I was able to show it off before the end of the school year, just in time for my retirement party!

If your ink could speak, what would it say?

“I’m a one-of-a-kind & was designed specifically with my new elementary school’s namesake’s input (“Miss Billie”). Although recently passed, her legacy to the school, community, AND inspiration for me as a tattoo lives on! I’ve been updated to look like a sticker, EXACTLY what elementary kids LOVE! I tell the story of a live lived, a life served, and thousands of lives positively impacted!”

What would you do with the $25,000?

Unfortunately, arts are the least funded part of public school curriculum. I would donate some of the prize money for supplies in schools to ensure that beginning artists have what they need to design their own work. With the rest, I’d work on completing my tattoos that will help tell the rest of my “story”