Noah Scalin

arranged clothing, 2023

Created at Old Dominion University’s Strome College of Business as part of my role as artist-in-residence for the 2023-24 academic year.

Clothing was donated by students & staff and after a week the installation was dismantled and the clothes were donated to Big Blue’s Closet where students can get professional wear for job and internship interviews.

arranged clothing, 20 x 40 feet approx., 2020

Commissioned by Old Navy to announce the donation of $30 million worth of clothing to families in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

arranged ties, 2019

A commission for Goodwill of Central & Coastal Virginia. A portrait of their retiring CEO Charles D. Layman made from hundreds of donated ties. The resulting image was hung in their headquarters and the ties were donated back to the organization to be reused.

Commissioned by Eat Restaurant Partners for Fatty Smokes, Richmond, VA,

Shoes & paint on panels, 2019

For a restaurant located in a former shoe store, I proposed the idea of creating something inspired by shoes. Through conversations with the owners and interior decorator we settled on the concept of creating a unique three-dimensional mural using actual shoes. The shoes were collected from people at all levels of the project from the architect to the kitchen staff. The shoes in the nose specifically came from the chef and his family. The final pair of shoes installed were a set of black kitchen clogs which were used for the eyes.

Photos by Graiden B Photography, Richmond Magazine and the artist.

Clothing installation @ Tyson’s Galleria, December 20-31, 2020. 3,000+ donated coats, which will be distributed to families in need.

In partnership with Brookfield Properties, Muros and Volunteers of America.

arranged clothing, 10 x 26 feet, 2018
Associação do Comitê Rio da Ação da Cidadania, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I was invited by SENAI Brasil to create an installation at their annual student fashion show.

I had 2 days and a donation of hundreds of pounds of clothes from a local store to work with.

The subject of my anamorphic portrait is the social activist Herbert José de Souza known affectionately as Betinho (1935-1997). He spent his life working tirelessly against economic injustice. He worked to mobilize the poor of Brazil and created a massively successful campaign to provide food for them. At the end of his life he also became an AIDS activist after contracting HIV through a blood transfusion. The building where the fashion show is taking place is actually used by an organization that he founded, so making his portrait there was particularly poignant.

After the piece was dismantled the clothing was donated to charity.

arranged clothing, 2019

Commissioned by St. Catherine’s School, Richmond, VA

This portrait installation of Virginia Randolph Ellett, AKA “Miss Jennie” the founder of the all-girls school St. Catherine’s was created as part of Girls Innovate, the school’s International Day of The Girl event. The piece, which was made with over 1,000 pieces of donated clothing, was created over two days. The final image, and documentation of its creation, was unveiled in front of 1,000 girls in grades 4-12 from across the city of Richmond. Once the piece was dismantled the clothing was donated to charity.

Cut paper collage made from album cover art to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band Hot Water Music.

52 panel painting created for leadership event at warehouse logistics company Fortna in collaboration with consultant Kimberly Kleiman-Lee.

Each panel was given to an leader in the organization to add their vision for the organization. The end result was then installed in the company’s headquarters in Atlanta, GA.

acrylic on panel, 54 x 42 in., 2022
Commission for RVA Kids First Collaborative. Artists were asked to interview local school children for inspiration for this piece to hang in their office.

My recent work has been about nostalgia from my own childhood, so I was interested in hearing what was important to these kids today. One of the questions I asked them was, “what would you put in a time capsule to be opened when you were 50?”, which is my age now. The response that stuck with me the most was when one of the children said “Myself.” I realized that I was approaching this from the wrong perspective. To me, so much of life is about the past, but to them it’s entirely about the future. They’re inheriting the world us adults have left for them, but luckily these bright, funny, unique people are exactly the superheroes we need right now and as the old song goes, “The Kids Are Alright.”

match burning and acrylic on panel, 24 x 36 in., 2022

Private commission based on Audubon’s Birds of America

acrylic and carbon on panel, 36 x 60 in., 2022

I was commissioned to create the artwork for the poster for the 2019 Richmond Folk Festival. To celebrate the milestone of the 15th year of this free, public event, I suggested making the art as a large interactive street art mural.

The image is meant to be a goddess of music (inspired by several performers including Cesária Évora, Angélique Kidjo, and Ma Rainey) , delivering her positive energy to our community. The public was encouraged to create their own version of the poster by standing in her rays and showing how they are transformed by the experience.

The final poser features the names of the artists performing at the festival incorporated into the mural.

stickers on panel, 18 x 24 in., 2020

Based on a painting by Piero Pollaiuolo of the Italian Renaissance noblewoman Piccarda Buer.

Commissioned via Patreon.

arranged wires & electronic items

Artwork commission to promote the release of the new book The Candy House from author Jennifer Egan.

stickers on panel, 30 x 30 in. 2023

stickers & acryic on panel, 30 x 40 in., 2022

Commissioned by Nolo Art Consulting for Park & Ford Apartments, Alexandria, VA. Based on a painting by George Stubbs

stickers & acrylic on shaped panel, 2021

Commissioned by Rodney Lawrence Inc. for Ornare’s Make Up Your Heart benefit for Americas Amigas.

stickers on panel

30 x 40 in.

24 x 36 in.

Commissioned portraits.

stickers on panel
24 x 36 in.
30 x 30 in.
36 x 36 in.
20 x 20in. 

stickers on panel

30 x 40 in.

24 x 30 in.

12 x 16 in.

stickers on panel
24 x 24 in.
16 x 20 in.

Commissioned by the 100 Gates Project for Lavagna Restaurant, East Village, NYC, 2019

Eddie Boros was a true East Village character. Known by many in the neighborhood for his quirky behavior and for the incredible multi-story tower made of junk and covered in toys that he created in the community garden around the corner from where this mural was painted.

Eddie died in 2007 and his tower was torn down in 2008.

Commissioned as key art for annual retreat.

Stickers on panel, 24 x 36 in., 2019

Created for the production of The Mountaintop by People's Light in  Malvern, PA.

We discussed the idea that this image should be about creating a link between MLK’s powerful work and the present day issues of race and power. This should be something relevant and alive. So what does the post-King America look like? Sadly there are a lot of dead bodies. There’s public grieving and a fervent call to make #blacklivesmatter. We chose shoes as our medium, since they represent the diverse people that wore them. Young/old, male/female, black/white. These are the people that marched for civil rights, the people that carry on King’s legacy today, and also the people lost along the way. Shoes are frequently used in protests to represent people that have been lost to violence. Lined up in public places, these dramatic installations silently stand as a reminder of the very real humans behind the abstract numbers we encounter daily. What these shoes represent moving forward will be up to each of us individually.

In 2017 I was commissioned by Ziploc to create a series of large-scale temporary portrait installations at Main St. Station in Richmond, Virginia to celebrate teachers.

Each piece was created with hundreds of items – related to the work of the teachers – placed into Ziploc containers or bags.

The final pieces were revealed to the teachers in person with their students accompanying them.

arranged 78 records, 2021

Created for Another Limited Rebellion’s Artists & Innovators you Should Know project for Black History Month, February 2021.

arranged glass & metal, 2017

Portrait of Nat King Cole created for the production Light's Out at People's Light, PA.

Arranged pennies.

Commissioned by Into Quarterly

The first statue of a black person erected in Richmond, Virginia was in 1973 and it was of pioneering tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Robinson was born and raised in Richmond, where he began his performing career as a child busking for pennies outside of theaters in the Jackson Ward neighborhood also known as the "Harlem of the South." He went on to become the highest-paid black performer of the first half of the twentieth century. While known primarily as a dancer and actor Robinson was also a philanthropist whohelped to found the Negro Actors Guild of America and  the New York Black Yankees team, based in Harlem. Bill Robinson died penniless, but much of his wealth went to charities in Harlem and beyond before his death.
 

Arranged loose sequins, 2018

Commissioned by Metropolitan Gallery for inclusion in a new dorm on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.

Created for the updated JenniferEgan.com website to coincide with the release of the book Manhattan Beach. 

The site was designed and programmed by Team Eight based on a concept by Noah Scalin. It features a hidden undersea world that includes two interactive pieces of art by Noah including this new portrait of Jennifer Egan made from watch parts.

Arranged computer keys.

For a proposed They Might Be Giants video for the song Erase, which was co-created with Meena Khalili.

In honor of the 25th anniversary of Twin Peaks I was asked to create some work for Makeout Creek Magazine & their The Great Southern art exhibition.

These four portraits were made entirely from cherry pie filling.

Commissioned by Target Margin Theater in NYC for their 2014-2015 season of productions of Gertrude Stein plays.

Arranged artificial flower petals. 3 x 12 ft ( 1 x 4 m)

Site specific installation at The Connelly Theater, NYC, May 2015

"A Rose is a rose is a rose" Created as part of the season of Gertrude Stein productions by Target Margin Theater.

Arranged flower petals. Commissioned by O+M Co. in anticipation of the premiere of the Broadway musical about Carole King's life.

Arranged sequins. Commissioned by the producer of  Night of A Thousand Judys, an event which helps to raise money for the Ali Forney Center – the nation’s largest organization dedicated to homeless LGBTQ youth.

Created to promote the Star Wars Remix project, which encouraged people to take everyday objects and transform them into elements from the Star Wars universe.

Commission for the play Ultimate Beauty Bible produced by Page 73 in NYC.

Arranged plaster and detritus. Commissioned by Ma-Yi Theatre Company in NYC, for their production of Livin' La Vida Imelda.

Arranged vintage illustrations. Created for the Artists Coloring Book.

More about the project can be found HERE.

Arranged dirt. A commission for the Gotham Theater Company, Music-Theater Group, and Opera Company of Philadelphia’s co-production of the new opera Dark Sisters by Nico Muhly.