The Making of an Artist

An award winning fine artist whose career spanned over 50 years

“The creative process is like a bird whose flight is charged by the invisible wind.”
Nicholas Scalise

A Celebrated Artist

Background

Nicholas P. Scalise, (1932-2009), was born in Meriden, Connecticut. He received his art education at Horace C. Wilcox Technical School, Meriden and the Paier School of Art in New Haven (1956-59) from which he graduated with honors. From 1959 to 1970, Scalise taught commercial and other art forms at the Famous Artists School, Westport, Connecticut. Since then, his artistic achievements have brought him national recognition.

Career

Nicholas Scalise was a fine artist whose career spanned over fifty years. He received over two hundred regional and national awards and had more than thirty solo exhibits at galleries and museums across the United States. He received his art education at Horace C. Wilcox Technical School, Meriden, Connecticut and the Paier School of Art in New Haven, Connecticut (1956-1959) from which he graduated with honors. The art of Nicholas Scalise may be found in public and private collections throughout the United States and abroad.

As you peruse through the art gallery you will find common, everyday scenes from his hometown of Meriden, Connecticut to Europe and Israel. In all, Nicholas worked to embrace the rhythms of life enveloping his own. Reflections of his keen perceptions of individuals going about their lives are revealed by his unparalleled ability to render otherwise ordinary daily happenings – preserved on his canvas for the rest of us to enjoy and understand.

In the latter part of his career, Nicholas was working on an instructional art book. The book is predominately a visual expression of drawings, paintings and sculpture and the “how to look and take” procedure that he used to create them. His method was to find suggestive shapes in unlikely places and turn them into visual image statements.

Exhibits

The National Academy, New York
The National Art League, New York
The National Society of Painters in Casein, New York
The Butler Institute of American Art, Ohio
The Wadsworth Athenaeum, Connecticut
Allied Artist, New York
Adirondack National Exhibit of American Watercolors, New York
American Watercolor Society, New York
The Holyoke Museum, Massachusetts
The De Cordova Museum, Massachusetts
Academic Artist Association, Massachusetts
The New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut
The Slater Memorial Museum, Retrospective Show, 2012, Norwich, CT

Among many others.

Awards

Mr. Scalise received more than 200 awards in national and regional exhibitions. These awards included many first prizes as well as six medals. Some of the awards are listed below:

2005 Champion for the Arts (Visual Art), Meriden, Connecticut Arts Council
2000 Portrait Award, Rockport Art Association
1998-99 New Haven Paint and Clay Award, Connecticut
1998 1st Place Connecticut Watercolor Society Award
1997 Hudson Valley Art Association, New York, 66th Annual National Exhibit
1997 Adirondacks National Exhibition of Watercolors, Arts Center, Old Forge, NY, Pulsifer Award, selected for travel for Museums and Art Centers
1997 West Hartford Art League, Connecticut Open Juried Show, One of Two First Place Awards
1997 Connecticut Pastel Society, Paul Mellon Arts Center, Wallingford, Connecticut, 4th Open National Exhibition, “Renaissance in Pastel” Material Award
1996 National Exhibition of American Watercolors, Arts Center, Old Forge, New York, Pulsifer Award and selected for National Travel Exhibition
1994 Realism Up Close – National Exhibition, Massey Fine Arts, Santa Teresa, New Mexico, First Place Award
1993 National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic, New York City, 40th Annual Exhibition, The Elsie Ject-Key Memorial Award
1993 Academic Artist Association, Springfield, Massachusetts, 43rd National Exhibition, Academic Artist Award
1992-1993 Realism Up Close – National Exhibition, Massey Fine Arts, Santa Teresa, New Mexico, Purchase Award and First Place Award
1992 Allied Artists of America, New York City, 79th Annual Exhibition, Moses Worthman Memorial Award
1992 The National Academy of Design, New York City, 167th Annual Exhibition, The Certificate of Merit

Past Events

Ashlar Village, Wallingford, Connecticut, March 1, 2020, Nicholas Scalise Original Artwork Exhibit/Book Signing with presentation by daughter, Rosann Scalise, sharing essays/stories about her father’s artwork from her book, “The Brushstrokes That Shaped My Life.”

The Monastery Gallery of Art, West Hartford, Connecticut, Original Artwork Exhibit, “Through the Artist’s Eyes: The Works of Nicholas Scalise”. July 10 - October 27, 2019. Reception, Saturday, September 28, featured presentation by daughter, Rosann Scalise, sharing essays/stories about her father’s artwork from her book, “The Brushstrokes That Shaped My Life.”

Gallery 53, Meriden, Connecticut, Nicholas Scalise Original Artwork Exhibition/Book Signing, June 4-11, 2016. Reception, Saturday, June 4, featured presentation by daughter, Rosann Scalise, sharing essays/stories about her father’s artwork from her book, “The Brushstrokes That Shaped My Life.”

Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts, Little Falls, New York, Nicholas Scalise Original Artwork Exhibition/Book Signing, March 19, 2016. Reception featured presentation by daughter, Rosann Scalise, sharing essays/stories about her father’s artwork from her book, “The Brushstrokes That Shaped My Life.”

The Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, Connecticut, Nicholas Scalise Retrospective Show, June 25-August 12, 2012