• His new book, Creative Sprint, is a workbook that focuses on creativity-building activities. The program, free and open to all, will be held in the Cabell Lecture Hall, April 3 at  7 p.m. It will consist of a hands-on creative challenge for attendees. A reception and book signing will follow. Continuing through April 14, daily prompts and ideas to spark creativity will be shared at a table in the lobby at Cabell. Students, staff and faculty are welcome to participate. Just find the table in the Cabell Lobby. The daily prompts will also be shared on Facebook and Twitter. 
• Across campus at Snead Hall, Scalin's art installation, “Portrait of Innovation: Frances Lewis,” will be formed from canned goods and toiletries donated by students, faculty and staff to create a portrait of Lewis. A reception with Lewis will be held upon its completion on Tuesday, April 4, at 5 p.m. in the atrium. Lewis, a Richmond businesswoman and philanthropist, founded Best Products Co. with her late husband Sydney. Best was a pioneer in bringing arts into business.  

Last fall, Scalin created his first pop-up installation at the school with the “Portrait of Innovation: Maggie Walker,” a 30-by-10-foot portrait created with arranged clothing donated by the school community. The portrait could only be fully recognized from one spot in the atrium, physically illuminating the powerful impact of perspective. While Scalin had worked with clothing as a medium before, this is the first time he is using food items and sundries.

“Every time I create a large-scale installation it’s a challenge, but I like having a creative problem to solve,” he said. “There are plenty of unexpected variables, but that’s what makes it exciting. There’s a chance of disaster, but also the possibility of something really unique happening. I’m excited to be extending the work I’ve done previously at the school. Watching and helping me in this process, the students are able to really understand the practical application of the creative toolkit that I’ve been introducing them to this year as part of my residency.”  

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Scalin founded and co-runs the art and innovation consulting firm Another Limited Rebellion, which works with clients such as GE, Altria, Capital One, Gap, Intuit and Mozilla. He is creator of the Webby Award-winning Skull-A-Day project and the author of five books on art, design and creativity. His art has been exhibited in museums and galleries including the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago and Krause Gallery in New York. He has been featured in dozens of publications, including Fast Company, Business Destinations, Wired, USA Today, The Telegraph and The New York Times.

The work will remain on display at Snead Hall through Friday, April 7. Once dismantled, the nonperishable items and toiletries will be given to RamPantry and Forgotten Soldier.

The Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU and the Visual Arts Center of Richmond are presenting the installation project with the VCU School of Business. The School of Business and VCU Libraries are partners in the "Creative Sprint" event.