by Doug MacCash, The Times-Picayune

Renowned artist John T. Scott’s colorful kinetic sculpture captured the New Orleans spirit. In 1992, Xavier University art professor Scott, who lived from 1940 to 2007, was awarded a $315,000 John D. MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as a genius grant. It was a career-capping acknowledgement of Scott’s devotion to artistic experimentation and education that made him the city’s most influential modernist. Large-scale sculptures by Scott can be found in DeSaix Circle, City Park and at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Scott’s work frequently reflected African-American themes. One of the best examples of his symbolic style is the silvery work “Ocean Song,” created for Woldenberg Park on the French Quarter riverfront in 1990. Scott said the rings at the top of the sculpture represent the circle dances that were performed at Congo Square by slaves, the wires that bisect the rings are a reminder of the traditional African diddley bow musical instrument and the wind-activated aluminum rods produce visual patterns reminiscent of jazz.

Raised in the Lower 9th Ward, Scott received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Xavier University and a master of fine arts degree from Michigan State University in 1965. His early sculptures were expressive figural bronzes with religious themes, but in time much of his work became more geometric and abstract. In 1983 he traveled to New York to study with internationally known sculptor George Rickey, who inspired him to add mechanical motion to his works.

In addition to three-dimensional art, Scott produced drawings and prints. In 1993 he designed the much-collected New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival poster. In the early 2000s he created a series of large-scale wood block prints produced with a chainsaw and asphalt roller.

Scott’s 2005 retrospective at the New Orleans Museum of Art was a professional peak and a swan song. He evacuated to Houston before the arrival of Hurricane Katrina. His eastern New Orleans studio was flooded by the levee failures, then looted for scrap metal. While in Houston, Scott was hospitalized with lung disease and received two double lung transplants, but died before being able to return to New Orleans.