Roscoe Wilson ’97 doesn’t remember a time in his life that did not include art. When he was in middle school and high school, he took all the art classes he could. Now at Miami University in Ohio, he teaches all the art classes he can.
Professor of Art Roscoe Wilson ’97 has spent more than 20 years teaching painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and art appreciation.
Wilson, originally from northern Indiana, applied to large state schools but ultimately chose to follow in his father’s footsteps and play soccer at Wabash. The art major was inspired by Art Professors Emeritus Greg Huebner and Doug Calisch to pursue a career in academia.
“I saw their lives, what they did every day, where they lived, their studios—and they were making artwork, thinking about art every day,” Wilson says. “I wanted to be them. I decided I was going to be a professor and line up all my choices to be that professor.”
Calisch never doubted Wilson would find success as an artist.
“From the beginning, Roscoe was a very disciplined, very straightforward, a push-hard, intense guy,” Calisch says. “When he came to Wabash as a soccer player, he carried that kind of athletic discipline through everything. I knew he was going to find a way to make a living being an artist, making art, and being creative. He had the discipline, the focus, and the attitude to do it.”
When Wilson was a child, his art consisted of drawings with pencils and markers. As his technique improved, he gravitated toward graphite pencils for the flexibility to add detail and shading. During his time at Wabash, he was a painter. Now, his focus is sculpture and installation sculpture.
“You don’t have to silo yourself into being good at one thing only,” he says. “You can diversify and do many things.”
Wilson’s various interests and capabilities as an artist allow him to let the message he wants to express dictate the media he chooses.
“Eventually, you get to a point where you’re asking, ‘Why are you making art? What’s important to you?’” says Wilson. “I really love the content aspect of the arts. It’s another form of communication—a unique way to communicate with the world that’s not verbal or written. It’s different. 天下足球网,球探比分 need to embrace that difference and learn how to really connect to people with our imagery.
“I tell all my students, ‘天下足球网,球探比分’re going to address large issues, small issues, personal issues, universal issues. 天下足球网,球探比分’re going to say something with our art, not just going to make things that are pretty. If they happen to be pretty, great! But we’re going say something.’”
Wilson intended to major in biology when he first started at Wabash. Even though he ended up pursuing art, his minor in biology still motivates much of the content of his work and what he wants to communicate.
“I had a deep respect for other creatures, other objects, and other materials,” he says. “Material can speak for itself. Every different surface, every different material has a story of who built it, who made it, where it came from, and where it is going.”
It may be trash to one person, but to Wilson it’s how he builds his art.
“I grind plastic and melt stuff, and I put things together that are everyone else’s refuse,” says Wilson. “Once I inherit a material, I have a responsibility for it. I can’t say, ‘I’m done with it; I’ll just throw it away,’ because it wasn’t mine in the first place.”