Scanga, Italo, 1932-2001

Sculptor, painter, graphic artist, teacher; San Diego, Calif. Born 1932. Died 2001.

Italo Scanga was born in Calabria, Italy, and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1946. Reared in Detroit, he studied at Michigan State University where he received an MFA degree in sculpture 1n 1961. Well-known as a teacher, Scanga taught art at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the Tyler School of Art (Temple University), Rhode Island School of Design, and Pilchuck Glass School before accepting a permanent position at University of California, San Diego. He lived in La Jolla and had a large studio in Pacific Beach. Scanga worked in a variety of media but was best known as a sculptor. A frequenter of swap meets and thrift shops, he picked up objects that attracted his attention and incorporated them into his sculptural pieces that also might include found objects and low art kitsch such as plastic animals and mass-produced figurines. Scanga also worked with clay and glass, from the early 1970s collaborating with his friend and former student Dale Chihuly.