From small-town Scotland to the global stage, the renowned artist and Hostos Community College educator transforms lives through the power of creativity and a boundless passion for the human spirit.
A specialist in oil and watercolor, Professor Scott has been teaching art at Hostos Community College for over two decades.
Hostos Community College Arts Professor Ian Charles Scott’s work stands among the finest at the 8th International Watercolor Biennial in Italy, the most prestigious watercolor summit in the world, taking place specifically in Fabriano, a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative City since 2013. His selection for the Watercolor Biennial underscores the global recognition of his talent, which he began cultivating in his childhood in rural Scotland. Today, his paintings are part of every major museum collection in his native country, including the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Scottish Academy, among others. Despite these prestigious accomplishments, Scott remains grounded, marveling at how far his journey has carried him.
“Through art is how I got to the top of my class, and it is still unbelievable to see how my work has been spread around the world and now is showing at such a major exhibit at the 700-year-old Fabriano Paper and Watermark Museum, which has works by Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, and Dürer. I am honored to be in the same space as the world’s most famous artists,” he shared.
His piece at the biennial is one of his most personal works, reflecting the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The piece, which features a lone figure in a diving suit navigating toward an ominous castle, was inspired by the sense of fear surrounding the virus and the need for protection in an unfamiliar world. “The air felt dangerous during that time; you couldn’t breathe the same air as someone else without fear,” he explains. The diving suit in his painting symbolizes the collective need for safety, while a brightly colored bird in the scene offers a ray of hope, representing the possibility of renewal. “I was painting myself through the tunnel, towards the light at the end,” he says, underscoring the healing power of art during such turbulent times.
8th International Watercolor Biennial selection: "Sinclair and Girnigoe Resurgam" (2021).
Professor Scott provides insight into the details of his painting currently on display at the Fabriano Museum as part of the 2024 International Fabriano Watercolor Biennial, which runs until October.
Unsurprisingly, his creative path has been defined by his fearless exploration of the world, often in unconventional ways. He worked on TV commercials in London in his early twenties but soon discovered that his passion for art outweighed the allure of film production. He was drawn to teaching art, often working with disabled individuals, and learning more about humanity through their resilience. “I was teaching them how to paint… young people with disabilities, people born with affected arms and legs. It was great because art was the one thing that could express what words couldn’t,” Scott shares, underscoring how art became a tool for unlocking hidden strengths in people society often overlooks.
His life led him through various odd jobs, including grave digging and offering art therapy with a psychiatrist to high-risk inmates. The physical and emotional challenges he faced across the United Kingdom shaped his artistic perspective, often reflected in the spiritual themes of his work.
Since childhood, Scott has painted various characters from his hometown, as well as from the places he visited or lived throughout his life.
His journey led him to art school, where he transformed from a C+ student into a top graduate through sheer discipline and curiosity at Dundee University, which hosts the most prestigious Fine Arts school in Scotland. His growing fascination with watercolor, nurtured by childhood experiments, became a vital medium for his self-expression. The fluidity and unpredictability of watercolor matched his own free-spirited approach to life, allowing him to capture moments of movement and emotion, much like water itself—constantly shifting, flowing, and adapting, symbolizing the ever-changing nature of human experience. “I found that I could put life into watercolors. It was alive, like the waves I painted when I was just a kid. Water gave my art movement like it was breathing,” Scott reminisces, emphasizing his deep connection to the medium.
After becoming a master in that medium, a scholarship took him to Germany and then to North America, where he traveled across Canada and the United States by train, documenting American life in all its diversity. From Native American communities to San Francisco’s vibrant gay pride parade, Scott painted the essence of people’s stories. In every town and city, he immersed himself in the local culture, whether among Austin’s “hippies,” New Orleans’s haunting energy, or painting characters at nightclubs in San Francisco.
New York eventually became home, and a chance encounter with a friend he worked with in the late 1990s led him to teach art at Hostos. Despite his Scottish roots and thick accent, Scott felt a natural connection to the College’s students, many of whom came from immigrant backgrounds like his own. His teaching philosophy revolves around empathy and compassion, allowing students to slowly unwind and discover their artistic voices. “I always tell them the art classroom is a place where you can be yourself. You don’t have to know everything; you just have to show up and start creating,” he says, as he describes how he encourages students to let go of their fears and insecurities through artistic expression, especially in an urban space that tells them to conform, where they are not encouraged to think creatively or express themselves through the arts.”
The painting, inspired by Scott's time in New Orleans, reflects the city's haunting beauty and vibrant spirit, capturing the essence of its culture and atmosphere.
For Scott, artistic expression is a way to diffuse tensions, giving his students the freedom to express their humanity beyond the constraints of the digital world. Through his teaching and his own work, he continues to explore the tension between technology and humanity. He believes in the importance of nurturing the “inner person,” a spark that “can only be ignited through the spirit of human creative expression and not through the hollow man-made artificially imposed algorithms of technology.”
Among his many projects, Scott is currently working on an exhibition inspired by his long friendship with George Mackay Brown (1921-1996), Scotland’s most prominent 20th-century poet, known worldwide. The collection, the first major exhibition to showcase their friendship through correspondence and art, will not only showcase the visual art that emerged from their relationship but also highlight the profound discussions they shared on creativity, life, and the struggles of living as an artist. This exhibition will serve as a tribute to their friendship and Mackay’s enduring influence on Scottish literature and culture.
Looking ahead, his story is one of boundless passion, a life shaped by his dedication to art and an insatiable curiosity about the human spirit. Scott’s journey embodies the transformative power of creativity, both in his own life and in the countless students he inspires every day. As he continues to teach at Hostos, the next chapter of his artistic legacy is eagerly anticipated—the lessons, the art, and the endless inspiration that will flow from his work with students, empowering them to find their own voices through the transformative language of art.
You can explore Scott’s and other international artists’ work at the Fabriano Watercolor Biennial here.