Long graduated from the University of Kentucky with a BA in Graphic Design/Art Studio and went on to do graduate studies at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. For a time he was an illustrator at the Gibson Greeting Card Company in Cincinnati. He gained recognition as an editorial illustrator for numerous magazines and newspapers in the 1990s, most notably Forbes, Time, Atlantic Monthly, and Sports Illustrated. He began illustrating book covers for Harper Collins, Penguin, Houghton Mifflin, and the National Geographic Society. In 1999 Long was commissioned to paint a grand-scale mural for a restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Phil went to work for a large Manhattan law firm; however, after working there for about a year, Phil realized a career in the field of law was not for him. Phil’s first love was always teaching and working with children, so he decided to pursue a career in education. Phil went back to school and earned a master’s degree in elementary education from Long Island University. At the same time, Phil also began teaching in the New York City Public Schools. For his first five years as a teacher, he taught fifth and sixth grade in the Tremont section of the South Bronx. Because of the poor conditions at the school, Phil often had to teach without classroom basics – paper, pencils or chalk for the blackboard. As a result, he had to devise creative and innovative ways to conduct his class. He incorporated music and song lyrics into his language arts curriculum, and his inspired approach brought musical groups such as the Dave Matthews Band, Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler, and Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean of The Fugees to his classroom. Phil’s class was also featured on the CBS television program, Coast to Coast.
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