Bloomfield College Opens Scott H. Kaplan Gallery

On Thursday, Bloomfield College officials opened their new Scott H. Kaplan 

Art gallery, named for a fondly remembered 2002 graduate who passed away a year after graduation from muscular dystrophy.

Kaplan, a Verona resident, was a Creative Arts & Technology student skilled with graphic design who made his mark on the campus as a student, friend and advocate for the disabled.

The new gallery, on the second floor of the Bloomfield library, was partially funded by Kaplan’s parents who have pledged money over the next five years for the upkeep of the space. The Kaplans also fund a scholarship in their son's name that has been awarded to seven students. Speaking at the dedication of the gallery, Ellen Kaplan, Scott’s mother, said they were grateful for the College’s role in her son’s life.

“Scott was the happiest he ever was when he came to Bloomfield College,” Ellen Kaplan said.

Scott was a beloved figure on campus and was instrumental in bringing awareness of disability accessibility to the college and buildings. He graduated with a degree in graphic arts, although his death in 2003 precluded him from finding full-time work in that field.

His father Marc Kaplan remembered Scott as an independent person who worked to help other people and never thought of himself as incapable.

“He never thought of himself that way or saw himself as different,” Marc Kaplan said.

Bloomfield College Professor Emeritus Lisa Rabinowitz, former chair of the College’s Creative Arts & Technology division, worked closely with Kaplan. She said naming the gallery was an appropriate tribute for Kaplan, a regular presence at the library.

“It is absolutely fitting for him,” Rabinowitz said. “And he would have loved it.”