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Art & Design

Creativity, critical thinking, project development, community engagement and collaboration, and mastery of technique and craftsmanship. Our art & design major is an ideal course of study for you to incorporate the study of the visual arts, liberal arts, and professional study.

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Arts & Sciences School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Thrive in Art & Design

A&D is a reimagined degree program designed to launch your success! Tap through this carousel and click on the captions to explore the awards, innovations, and real-world impact our students, faculty, and alumni are making every day.

    Learn More about the Art & Design major

ONU graphic design student wins national award

Lauran posing for photo in front of area she designed

ONU student earns American Graphic Design Award for work benefiting local Artists Against Hunger campaign

Elizabeth posing with her work

ONU student aspires to achieve social change through her creative designs

Kenya posing for story article

ONU professor is championing diversity through his research and teaching

professor helping student

Design plus Dance

Lily posing in grad robe on ladder in the dance studio

Alumni Success - Katelyn Amendolara-Russo - Medici Museum of Art

Headshot of Katelyn

Alumni Success - Ashley Dally Hornish - Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Ashley in her museum

ONU collaboration honors Hardin County native and baseball great

Aubrey Davis painting Ray Brown mural

Student Internship with Pioneer Athletics

Ella at her internship

As an art & design major at ONU, you’ll learn to become a master of your craft while honing process and applied skills that allow you to create work that communicates big ideas. Our program blends technical, conceptual, and critical thinking skills that prepare you for a variety of careers. Our student-centered instruction, a hallmark of the department, focuses on high-impact learning and creative opportunities. You can experience research projects, internships, study abroad courses, and experiential opportunities appropriate to your career goals.

Our art & design major is intended to allow you to minor in another program connected to your career interests such as psychology, social media, marketing, communication & media, museum studies, arts administration, or computer science. You are encouraged to make interdisciplinary connections that inform your work. Your last year of study culminates in a capstone project informed by the research done in the previous studies and continued studio work.

Large institutions just can’t provide the individualized attention and opportunities you’ll find here. You’ll learn just as much outside the classroom as you do inside. You’ll participate in juried art shows and enter exhibitions. You’ll go on field trips, participate in group problem-solving sessions, produce campaigns and projects for the community, and interact with visiting artists and designers. You’ll take intensive, studio-based courses and produce works of art and design worthy of accolades.

Here, you’ll join a close-knit family of artists and designers. From the time you arrive on campus until you graduate, you’ll be guided by the same faculty advisor. You’ll enjoy small class sizes and amazing friendships with your fellow art & design students. Our dedicated professors will get to know you. They will go above and beyond to develop you as an artist, designer, and professional. Upon graduation, you’ll have a portfolio of work that will help you land a great job! When you leave Ohio Northern with an Art & Design major, you will have a myriad of possibilities open to you, from working as an in-house graphic designer or full-time scenic painter for a theater, to being prepared for graduate school in art/design, art history, or art therapy.

Courses, Curriculum & Program Resources

You’ll need 120 credit hours to earn a Bachelor of Arts in art & design. We encourage you to pursue a minor in marketing, public relations, social media, psychology, theatre arts, or any program that aligns with your career interests and passions. Some of the courses that you could take as an art & design major include: biological illustration, comics, drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, book arts, photography, art & design history, typography, persuasive design, and social media design.

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  • Four-Year Curriculum
  • Learning Outcomes
  • Faculty
graphic design students working in la

Solid Outcomes

• Creative Colleges: A guide for Students, Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians, and Writers ranks ONU a top-200 program for creative students.
• During the past five years, an average of 85% of our students were employed or accepted into graduate school within six months of graduation
• Our students have been accepted to regional juried exhibitions.
• Our students have won scholarships from Kappa Pi.
• Art & design students have won Graphic Design USA awards, the Student Excellence Award from the NAC&U, AIGA (re)Design Award, and the AICUO Excellence in the Visual Arts awards.
• Many students have been accepted to competitive internships.

Ignite your Passion

Land an internship you’ll love

We provide opportunities for you to network and grow, on and off campus, including internships that align toward your dream carer. Our students intern at design agencies, museums, businesses and nonprofit organizations. In addition, our in-house design studio offers the chance for students to gain experience working on real projects for real clients.

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Space to imagine and create

The Wilson Art Center for the Visual Arts provides modern equipment and a stimulating environment to explore your artistry.

Studio Arts student in class
studio arts painting class
studio arts ceramics
Graphic Design student working in the Wilson Art Building.
Student presenting her design in class.
Studio Arts student in class

Talent Awards

Talent awards are available to students who choose an art and design major. Click below to learn more about how to apply.

  • Learn More
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ONU gave me incredible opportunities, lifelong friends, and a pathway to a professional career.
Avory Mayenschein, BA '25, studio arts and marketing double major

Galleries and Exhibitions

Operated by the department of art and design, the Elzay and Stambaugh Studio Theatre Galleries are educational art galleries for the Ohio Northern community and for the Northwest Central Ohio region. The gallery season is designed to serve as a cultural resource, showcase student work, host national and international touring exhibitions and programs and host original exhibits distinctly suited to an academic environment.

 

Do you want to show your professional work at our gallery? Contact us at art@onu.edu.

Graphic design student show in the Elzay gallery of art
MLK March to Freedom gallery.
Graphic Design alumni exhibit.
Graphic design senior exhibit show.
gallery exhibition in the Elzay gallery of art
Painting gallery displayed in the Wilson art building.
student touching a ceramics display at a gallery opening.
MLK March to Freedom gallery display of images.
Student show gallery display in the Wilson art building.
Students attends Chinese folk pottery gallery opening.
studio arts painting
graphic design Elzay gallery

Be immersed in learning

From study abroad to student exhibitions, field trips to visits from guest artists, we focus on learning by doing, seeing and experiencing.
  • Meet new people, explore different ideas, and encounter unique cultures. It will make you a better artist and designer. We offer extensive opportunities for study abroad, including cooperative art exchange agreements with the University of Ulster in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the University of Arts London, United Kingdom. In addition, we have connections with the Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy, and the Burren School of Art in County Clare, Ireland.

  • A variety of campus publications, including The Northern (ONU yearbook), the Northern Review (ONU student digital newspaper), and Polaris (international literary magazine), can provide hands-on experience in graphic design and the chance to build a portfolio.

  • Interact and learn from well-known artists through our visiting artists and artists-in-residence programs. Each year we bring to campus a variety of acclaimed artists—from graphic designers to painters, photographers to ceramic sculptors—who share their work and expertise with students through exhibitions, workshops, and lectures. You’ll have the chance to meet these masters of the craft and soak up the knowledge they impart. Past guests have included George McCauley, Matt Madden, Ashwini Bhat, Marilyn McPheron, Judith Steele, Jay Ryan, Aaron Hegert, Robbie and Robert Bailey, Marilyn Lysohir, and Kyle Holtz.

  • Through many student exhibition events throughout the year, you’ll have the chance to showcase your work to the public. Our events include the Foundation Honors Exhibit, the Junior BFA/BA Exhibition, the Works-in-Progress Exhibition, and the Annual Juried Student Art Exhibit.

  • Work-study jobs are available in the art department, including computer lab monitors, studio assistants, gallery director assistant, student designer, slide librarian, and more.

  • Every two years we offer cultural enrichment trips to Europe during the summer. These trips provide an artistic, historical and cultural experience. In past years we’ve traveled to Spain, Italy, France, and Greece.

  • Visit major art centers, area museums, galleries, architectural sites, conferences, and more as an ONU graphic design major. Throughout the year, you’ll have opportunities for field trips that will provide inspiration and expand your awareness of art.

  • Join a professional organization, and you’ll learn about opportunities in your field and networking. In the Kappa Pi honorary, you can visit studios and museums, host guest artists on campus, and plan social gatherings. In the AIGA/The Professional Association for Design student chapter, attend ONU Design Week events, visit firms and design offices, travel to national and regional conferences, and attend college fairs. The ONU Art Club offers you a chance to hone in on a craft and experience working with new materials or techniques. There are dozens of student organizations and honorary societies at ONU – geared toward many different interests – active on campus. You’re sure to find one or more that fit you.

Student Work

Painting of glass bottles.
Packaging design created by a student.
Ceramic pot created by a student.
Design for good poster design.
reusable bag design by a student.
ceramic texture created by a student.
Website design created by a student.
branding identity created by a graphic design student.
Painting of a lolliepop created by a studio arts student.

End game: a fulfilling art & design career

Check out where our graduates have ended up.

Careers in Art & Design:
DESIGN
– graphic designers
– brand & identity designers
– Web/interface designers
– advertising designers
– package designers
– exhibit designers
– wayfinding designers
– art directors
– freelance designers

ART
– private practice
– studio assistants
– scientific illustrators
– museum/gallery director
– arts administrator
– teacher (non-profit)
– scenic artists
– art therapists (clinics, hospitals, correctional facilities, nursing homes, children’s agencies, mental health centers, violence shelters)


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