Late College Point artist and sculptor remembered
for turning recycled materials into unique treasures
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
For more than 50 years, John
Norwood had created art out of
recycled materials in his College
Point home. Norwood, who
was an artist, sculptor and model
maker, wanted to be a living
national treasure, according to
his wife, Dr. Ruby Malva.
“He wanted someone to look
at his art and buy it. He wanted
it to go into the museums, but
somehow it never clicked,” Malva
said. “He must’ve sent out
about 100 copies of his artwork
to about 100 museums and art
magazines.”
Norwood, who was known
for turning trash into treasure,
died on March 6 at the age of
84. He is survived by his wife,
whom he was married to for 47
years, his two daughters Daniella
and Erica, and two grandchildren.
According to Malva, Norwood
kept on producing artwork
— paintings, drawings,
foam sculptures and various
mixed media pieces of art from
recycled materials — in his studio
up until the very end.
“Being with him, I know a lot
about artists and about artwork.
John loved his art — he had a
certain taste,” Malva said. “He
never let me throw away everything.
He used to take my plastic
containers and made things out
of them, and he used foam and
cardboard and created art with
that.”
Norwood recycled everything
that came into his environment
— whether it was vaccine
boxes that he stacked and
painted red, yellow and white,
or Marlboro cigarette packs,
cigarette butts, matches, spray
cans, coffee cups and cardboard
of any kind.
“I think the waste in our
society is fantastic and when it
comes into my environment, I
have to do something with it,”
Norwood said in his contemporary
artist bio on YouTube.
Norwood was born on Jan.
25, 1937, in Durham, N.C., and
moved to Norfolk, Va., when he
was 5 years old. He attended The
College of William and Mary
(now Old Dominion University)
for two years and then received
the Out of State Fellowship from
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
to study art in 1957. He used this
fellowship to attend the Art Institute
of Chicago for two years.
After spending some time
in Europe, where he studied
art history, music and theater
in several different countries,
Norwood returned to New York
City and got a job in New Jersey
making architectural models.
He then moved to Manhattan
and started working with I.M.
Pei’s model shop. Soon after, he
met his wife, Ruby, at a Halloween
party in 1970.
Norwood and Malva were
married in 1972 and had two
daughters, Daniella and Erica.
The couple moved to College
Point in 1974, as Malva started
her pediatrician practice and
opened an office in the community
the following year.
“I always used to say I’m a
type A and he’s a type Z because
I’m always a very hyper person
wanting to get things done, but
John had a laid back personality,”
Malva said. “He was very
kind and also quiet, staying at
home. He was very good with
the children. While I was working,
he used to do homework
with the kids and did a lot for
them.”
Norwood had renovated
their home that sits on College
Point’s waterfront with a view
of Manhattan and a glorious
sunset. However, one day about
10 years ago, Norwood ended
up losing a large percentage of
his artwork after a devastating
fire broke out in their home,
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.2 COM | APRIL 23-APRIL 29, 2021
according to Malva.
“It was a cold day and John
had heaters plugged into three
plugs that caught on fire,” Malva
said. “The fire was downstairs
and all of his artwork —
pieces that he had worked on for
three to six months — was lost.
It was traumatic because his
plexiglass pieces that were in
the Queens Museum went with
that, too.”
However, it didn’t stop Norwood
from creating, according
to Malva. After rebuilding their
home, Norwood continued to
paint and worked with glue and
foam creating collages. Eventually,
their home was filled
with an additional few hundred
paintings and sculptures of all
shapes and sizes.
“He never wanted to leave
his home in College Point. He
said, ‘This is my place and am
going to die here,’” Malva said.
Norwood’s home has been
converted into a museum/
gallery that contains his life’s
work, that is known as the Norwood
Museum. The College
Point site has received a rating
of five stars on TripAdvisor, and
according to Malva, they’ve had
about 200 to 300 visitors. However,
due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
it’s been closed.
Norwood’s work has been
featured at the Jamaica Center
for Arts and Learning, Queens
Theatre in the Park in Flushing
and the Queens Museum of
Art, among other sites. He has
also been featured in interviews
about his artwork on CBS News,
NY 1 and Queens Public Television
.Norwood’s longtime friend,
Len Bellinger, paid tribute to
his late friend on Facebook.
“John told me he was a ‘living
national treasure’ at least a
thousand times over the past 42
years, all with a sly smile on his
face and always ready to launch
into a barrage of politically
incorrect off-color jokes that
were funny as hell despite having
heard each and every one
a thousand times as well,” said
Bellinger, who was offered an
alley studio space in a building
the Norwood’s owned in College
Point.
According to Bellinger, Norwood
would stop by the studio
and invite him and others to his
own enormous studio space in
the adjoining building.
“John would call me every
week or so throughout this
pandemic or leave a message
that usually began, ‘Hi Len, it’s
God, just called to chat, nothing
important, give me a call back’
followed by a slightly southern
drawled, ‘It’s not really God, it’s
John, bye!'” Bellinger said.
According to Malva, Norwood
had lived a good life traveling
with his family to different
countries.
“We traveled a lot — we took
40 cruises and I never went away
without him or him without
me,” Malva said. “On most of
our vacations we never thought
about work. We loved Machu
Picchu and the Galapagos, and
he loved Japan. He liked simple
things.”
The late John Norwood, an artist, sculptor and model maker, died at the age of 84 on March 6.
Courtesy of Norwood’s family
An orange foam piece entitled, “Gates of Hell,” created by
Norwood
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