Students in Professor Ian Charles Scott’s art classes received a special delivery ahead of the start of the Fall 2021 semester. Scott, who teaches Painting and Drawing 1 and 2, sent his students ink and watercolor sketches on the back of the envelopes, which were filled with course information and other goodies.
“It's started as quick ink sketches and eventually became watercolors on the envelopes,” he said of the initiative. “I know I would have been super delighted to get a personal painting done just for me from one of my teachers when I was at art school, so I feel it's an opportunity to give the students that experience I never had!”
Scott’s goal in sending out his welcome packages was to “add the ‘human’ to ‘humanities’ and expand the inner being.”
The artwork he sent ranged from renderings of Eugenio María De Hostos, the educator and activist for whom the College is named, to actor Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character of the BBC series “Sherlock,” for a student who he knows is a big fan, and more.
Scott said he believes love and art are the same thing and “we all need a little love and joy in our lives nowadays.” He also feels that in order to do anything with passion, one must also have compassion, and he hopes that when the envelopes make their way to each student, they’ll “sprinkle stardust and joy to set the semester on the right note.”
Scott shared photos of his handmade welcome notes on Facebook, garnering personal requests for sketches from his followers. You can see a collection of Professor Ian Scott’s Fall 2021 welcome notes on Hostos’
Facebook and
Instagram pages.