One Artist's Junk, Another's Treasure
SCULPTOR ITALO SCANGA,
U.VA.'S FIRST ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE,
TO LEAD STUDENTS IN CREATIVITY

Note:  Photos of Scanga's sculptures can be obtained by calling the
U.Va. News Office at (804) 924-7116.

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Aug. 31 -- Italo Scanga, an
internationally known artist and teacher who is famous for
sculptures featuring "found" junk and glass, will be the first
visiting master artist-in-residence at the University of Virginia's
McIntire Department of Art this year.  
	"For our first master artist-in-residence, we wanted not
only an important artist, but someone who can interact well with
students," said Dean A. Dass, associate professor of art and studio
chair at U.Va.
	"Scanga's juxtapositions of widely disparate materials can
be startling, humorous and intensely spiritual.  His work is both
funny and profound.  His work in the field of assemblage -- of
poetically recombining found and salvaged materials -- has had a
tremendous impact on modern artists," Dass said.
	Scanga, who arrives in mid-September, will be in residence
twice this academic year at U.Va.  During his fall residency, Sept.
16-28, he will conduct workshops in fresco and printmaking for
studio art majors.  On Sept. 19, he will give a free public lecture
on his work, which ranges from acrylic drawings and monotypes to
sculptures made from glass and welded steel parts.  The talk will
begin at 8 p.m. in Cabell Hall auditorium.
	A sampling of Scanga's sculpture and prints will be
exhibited at U.Va.'s Bayly Art Museum from Jan. 3 through March 16.  
	Scanga will return to the University in the spring as a
guest artist sponsored by University Union's Arts Board.  During his
residency March 17 - 29, he will lead students through area
junkyards in search of the old and the unusual --from discarded
tools and car parts to tin cans and metal chains.  He will then
supervise students in assembling the found objects into
paint-dappled sculptures for display on Grounds.	
	Scanga's works have been exhibited in more than 70 galleries
worldwide and are included in the collections of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum
of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  
	Born in Italy in 1932, Scanga moved to the United States in
1947.  He earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Michigan State
University, where he studied sculpture.
	Scanga's visit is sponsored by a U.Va. grant to the art
department to support a visiting artist program in its Fayerweather
Gallery.
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                                      August 30, 1996
	FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Dean A. Dass at (804)
924-6122.  To arrange an interview with Italo Scanga, call Sylvia
New Strawn in the art department at (804) 924-6122.