Richmond, Va. is fortunate to count Chuck Scalin among its rich and diverse artistic class. A graduate of Pratt Institute, he arrived at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to teach in 1968. For decades he would guide students through the rigors of graphic design and illustration before retiring in 2003 as assistant chair of the highly respected Communication Arts and Design Department. Since then, he’s been stewarding aspiring artists through classes and exhibitions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VFMA) Studio School. A new exhibition of 15 of his hand-picked students’ collages and assemblages will be on display at The Hill Gallery, 708 N. Robinson St.,with an opening on Jan. 7. A + A recently interviewed the talented, Bauhaus-influenced Scalin – whose work also makes a cameo appearance in the show – via email:
What holds this exhibition together thematically?
Students in this advance level VMFA Studio School course are encouraged to explore, experiment and develop their own personal direction and finally produce a small body of work for potential exhibition purposes. They choose their own subject matter, whether based on abstract or more literal themes, as well as, working either two or three dimensionally to produce their work.
Why did you select these 15 out of a pool of 250+ potential students?
I selected these students as they’ve continued taking my courses – some for the past five years. I currently have four students enrolled in courses that I also taught at VCU. Working with them over the years, I’ve helped these students develop a strong personal direction in their work which will be evident when it is exhibited.
What is the intent of the exhibition?
To inspire and guide students and to give them an opportunity to put together a professional-looking exhibition in a professional venue. For several of these students, it’s their first time exhibiting work in a gallery setting which I’m sure must be very exciting for them.
Tell us about your background: Where’d you go to school? What did you study? Who were your biggest influences?
For my freshman year, I studied at the University of Illinois and continued my undergraduate studies at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, where I received my BFA degree. After three years of working professionally as a graphic designer in Chicago, I went back to attend graduate school at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N. Y. and received my MFA degree in 1968, the same year I began my teaching career.
To this day, I think my biggest influences and the most influential people in my 55-year career as a professional artist were two of my freshman instructors when I was a student at the University of Illinois. One was my design instructor, Robert Nickle, and the other was my drawing instructor, Roland Ginzel. Both studied at the “New Bauhaus,” known as the IIT Institute of Design in Chicago. Its founder was the original Bauhaus master Moholy-Nagy; he, along with Walter Gropius, continued there with the original Bauhaus philosophy of design. My education with early Bauhaus training continues to be evident in my current work and the way I guide my own students enrolled in my courses.
For more on the exhibition, go here:
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