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Written by Kay Heino | Images provided by David Malcom Scott

As we all know, these last weeks at 51���Ϲ��� have been very hectic for the first year MFA students! But we all managed to get through this time and I'm very proud of us all. While I was also getting my Midprogram Review ready, I had the special opportunity to speak with an alum of the 51���Ϲ��� MFA program, '98.

We spoke about the collective that he is a member of and how that can help your practice be more freeing. I never really put too  much thought into being in a collective until I spoke with David. So I hope that this conversation will help you rethink collective work like it has for me.

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KH:

Hello I would like to first start off by thanking you for participating. Now onto the questions. For everyone reading, can you first introduce yourself and the medium of art you prefer?

DMS:

Hello, my name is David Malcolm Scott, I’m abstract painter living in Minneapolis, my main medium is watercolor on paper though I do some work with acrylics on canvas as well.

KH:

I am conducting this email because I am interested in the . I see that you made “the roster”. What goes into that process? Do they pick, do you apply?

DMS:

I’ve been a member of Rosalux Gallery since the early 2000’s. We’ve ranged from 24 to 18 members depending on the space we’re in, our present local is our fifth. 

We’re a collective so we all do what needs to be done to run the gallery. We pay the rent, man the gallery shifts, do construction work as needed, organize group shows and help at other members exhibit openings. 

We have a point system for all the jobs needed to be done to stay open. When it comes time to make out a new exhibit schedule the person w/ the most points gets first choice on which month they show and we work down the calendar. In the past we had two person shows but at our new location we’re switching to solo’s in June. When someone leaves the gallery and we need a replacement we post a call for applicants on our website for a number of months. It’s pretty standard; images, a statement, a resume. At one of our monthly meetings we review all the submissions and vote, the person w/ the most votes is invited to join.

I have a show coming in May, I’m exhibiting w/ Duane Ditty, it’s our last two person show.  It will run April 30th to May 29th with an opening party on May 7th, 6-9:00pm.

KH:

While working at the Rosalux gallery, can you mention some of the benefits that come with being an artist in a collective?

DMS:

There are many positives to being part of Rosalux. Your show is whatever you want it to be and the gallery is yours for the month  to have lectures, salons or any other gathering you wish- you restore the space for the next artist when your show ends.

All the money from your show is yours, there’s no commission to anybody and having a regular show keeps pushing you to make new work.

One of the biggest benefits w/ being in the co-op is the friendships you form and the inspirational jolt you get from seeing other members shows. Also, I hear about exhibits, venues, and opportunities from other Rosaluxers that I might not have known about otherwise.

KH:

Onto your work. I am very interested and intrigued by your paintings. Can you explain a little bit about what goes into the process of making for you ?

DMS:

Over the years my work has shifted from land&cityscapes to abstraction. For my landscapes and especially my scrolls there was a lot of research, road trips, photography, and sketching things out. I still paint some scrolls but it’s a minor part of my current work. There were always abstract parts in my landscapes especially the scrolls...it got to be the part I enjoyed the most so a few years ago I jumped. 

The abstracts are the most instinctual work I’ve done and I’m having a blast with them. I usually don’t sketch or plan out a piece but go right to the paper, using tape to draw with and put down a line, or a brush for the color I think of. Or I have a rough idea or image in mind, I get something down then it’s reacting to that impulse and then reacting to what I’ve put down again and again, etc. It’s paying attention to hints and clues of the work and the mist in my head and acting on it and trying not to overthink it all. I have to trust almost 50 years of art and design experience for this process to work and for me to let go.

KH:

I hear from my sources (I read an article haha) , that you were an architect? Can you elaborate on how this influences your work? 

DMS:

I started painting seriously when I moved here to finish my architecture degree at the “U”. I’d come home from my design studio at school and work on a painting. I started exhibiting my art before I graduated w/ my Bachelor of Architecture. 

I was involved w/ architecture for 20 years counting schooling and work. Architecture teaches you a lot of things but the most important for my art was how to take discordant elements and create a coherent and aesthetically pleasing whole. In my art I aim for a balance between color, line, shape, and the creative mist...I look at this as an outgrowth of what I learned in architectural design.

There’s a planet of stress involved in architecture. I had a design studio, An Arch, for six years w/ five other architects I knew, when it broke up that was my cue to get out for my own health.

KH:

I also hear from my sources ( still me ) that you've moved around a lot, same as I have. Do you find this to be an influence into your work?

DMS:

Minnesota is the sixth state I’ve lived in and I also had long stays in two others: NC, Ala, Okla, Mich, Oh, + Ariz, Mass. Besides the moving I was lucky that we traveled a lot and that my folks were museum goers. You learn so much from being exposed to different people and cultures. It opens you to other ways of looking at the world and making art. Even if you’re always coming back to the same place, travels can open your eyes to viewing that place and your work differently.

KH:

Lastly, as an MFA grad, can you spare any advice for soon to be graduating MFA students? EX. networking, selling work, time management.

DMS:

After An Arch broke up I decided to more fully focus on my art, which lead me to apply to 51���Ϲ���’s MFA program. One of my mentors, Hazel Belvo, saw my watercolors and convinced me to switch from acrylics.  It’s just one of the many things for which I’m grateful to 51���Ϲ���. 

To MFA students studying fine art, for most artists success is a long hard slough that doesn’t pay much along the way.

My advice is twofold: One, unless you get hit by the bolt ️you’re going to have to make a living doing something else- find a career that you enjoy and that allows you time to make your art. Two, don’t stop making art! No matter how hard the Gods make your life don’t stop creating! I know too many artists that got discouraged and don’t make work anymore and it’s a crying shame. If you can’t make art in your favorite medium find another one, keep a sketchbook, use your phone for photography, etc—keep making art. You’ve made it this far, to an MFA program, because you have a gift, don’t let it die, in these Covid days we live in society needs art more than ever.