Coleen Scott

Coleen Scott
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Fiber Arts, Quilting
English
After School Program, Arts/Cultural Organizations, Community Center, K-12 Schools, Nursing Home, Senior Center

Coleen Scott is a costume designer and makeup artist with an MFA in Costume Design from Boston University. She has worked for over 18 years in theater, opera, film, and television. Since finishing her professional makeup and hair training at The Make Up Designory in New York City in 2010, Coleen has been focusing on makeup, hair, and styling for fashion and portrait photography. In the summer of 2015, she had the privilege of studying makeup technique at The Val Garland School of Makeup with the legendary Val Garland, herself. She is the resident costume designer for Jamal Jackson Dance Company, and often builds commissioned costume pieces for performers in New York City under her label Tattoo Girl Lingerie. Coleen currently teaches Costume Design, Construction, and Makeup at Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn, NY. She is the creator of the school's makeup program, started in 2012. Most recently, Coleen is co-hosting an upcoming web series for a collaborative project between Maker Films and Lucas Films. Coleen is a 2016 SU-CASA Grant recipient for her work teaching quilting to senior citizens in Brooklyn.

I have always been around senior citizens, from the time I was a young child. I was always very close to all four of my grandparents, and after losing my last grandpa at the beginning of last year, I have really felt the gap in my life and my heart, where the seniors are missing. Probably because of my close relationships with my grandparents, and growing up surrounded by social groups of seniors, I love them, and have been searching for an opportunity to work with them for years. My mother is the other inspiration that has led me to working with seniors, and she is the reason that I have been teaching quilting specifically. I learned quilting from her, and over the last ten years, I have built upon my quilting skills by spending time with her and her friends (also senior citizens) at quilting guild meetings, sewing bees, and workshops. These men and women have a zest for life, and excitement about creativity that is inspiring. The volunteer opportunity that led to my receipt of the SU-CASA grant this year, has allowed me to plan and teach a curriculum to groups of seniors, and I have seen their minds fill with inspiration. The whole experience has brought me the most joy and fulfillment I've had in my ten years as a teaching artist.