School of Art Assets
- New facilities – The Center for the Visual Arts opened in 2016 and features state-of-the-art equipment and tools in all areas.
- World-class faculty – Our faculty are published authors, award-winning artists, nationally-recognized educators and mentors to our students. Among our faculty, we have Guggenheim Fellowships, Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards, a United States Artist Fellowship, an Ohio Governor’s Award as well as members of the Ohio Art Education Association Distinguished Fellows and a Fulbright Specialist.
- Kent State offers concentrations in eight studio art disciplines, one of the largest varieties of any university in the state – ceramics, drawing, glass, jewelry/metals/enameling, painting, print media and photography, sculpture and expanded media, textiles. Collaboration across disciplines is encouraged.
- ARTech studio – a digital fabrication studio equipped with 3D printers, a digital plotter, a universal laser cutter, and the largest digital CNC router on campus.
- ARTshop – a retail shop where students can sell their artwork to the public.
- Visual Resource Center - The center provides assistance to faculty, staff, and students in finding images for research, teaching, or other university activities as well as computing stations, printing (standard and large format), and scanning. Additionally, a digital photo studio to document artwork is located on site, with a camera, tripods, lights, backdrops, and computer workstation available for student use.
- Travel Study – opportunities to travel every semester to New York City to visit museums, artist studios, galleries and more, earning credit towards your degree. Trips to Washington D.C., Chicago, Detroit and other nearby cities are also offered annually. Overseas opportunities include Florence, Italy; London, England; Paris, France; and multiple cities in China are offered annually or biannually. Weekend day trips to local museums and galleries are also offered regularly by faculty.
- Kent Blossom Art Intensives – Two-week summer studio intensives that invite visiting artists from all over the country and beyond. This program, established in 1968, offers focused learning for intermediate to advanced students as well as individual artists looking to expand and explore their art making practice.
- Visiting Artists and Scholars – Every semester, visiting artists and scholars are invited to give lectures open to all students as well as the public. Additionally, visiting artists participate in demonstrations and art critiques and visiting scholars engage in discussions with art history students.
- Hands-on Experience for Art Education – Our art education students get real hands-on experience as part of their practicum course. Each semester, a fresh group of children aged 4-13 come to campus after school to experience inventive, cutting-edge curriculum provided by our undergraduate students in Art Education. Students also have other community outreach opportunities at local organizations in addition to their student teaching requirements. For the past two decades, Kent State University art education students have planned, organized and taught social issues-based lessons to students at area detention centers.
- Job Placement – Close to 100% placement rate for art education students
- Professional Practices – Students take a course towards the end of their college experience that addresses how to navigate a career in the arts after graduation.
- Exhibition Opportunities – The School of Art Collection and Galleries provide multiple exhibitions for students to participate, including the Student Annual, Stratosphere Art Competition, GAR Foundation Art Exhibition, and at University Hospitals in Portage County. BFA students show their senior thesis exhibition in the exhibition spaces provided at the Center for the Visual Arts.
- School of Art Collection and Galleries – Consisting of seven gallery spaces, the galleries exhibit art from local, regional, national and international artists with new exhibitions every four to six weeks. Students also have opportunities to exhibit their work in many of these spaces. The collection consists of over 4,000 historical and contemporary art objects, contained in an open storage space located at the Center for the Visual Arts. The space is easily accessible to classes so students can get up close and even handle objects.
- Student Clubs – Student clubs and organizations are a great way for students to get to know their peers while working on their leadership and entrepreneurial skills. Students work together to do a variety of activities, including sales of their artwork or other items to raise money to go to conferences and museums. Kent State has an Art History Club, National Art Education Association Student Chapter, Jewelry and Metals Co-op, Art Club, United Print Alliance, Ceramics Club, Glass Club, Textiles Club, Gallery Club, and Sculpture Club.