Ohio University offers its students many opportunities to experience art first-hand at no cost, and Arts for OHIO has helped make this possible. Many of the events and exhibitions are created and performed by students.
“We have over 300 arts events that are absolutely free to Ohio University students each year because of Arts for OHIO,” Rachel Cornish, the director of external relations in the College of Fine Arts, said.
The program uses Kennedy Museum of Art to show some of the exhibitions it offers.
“All events, including openings, exhibitions, and educational programs, at Kennedy Museum of Art are free and open to the public,” Edward Pauley, the director of the Kennedy Museum of Art, said in an email.
Arts for OHIO offers many different events that range from music, film, art, dance and theater. According to the College of Fine Arts website, the school believes the arts are an essential source of intellectual and social growth.
In celebration of Kennedy Museum of Art's 20th anniversary, the main show of this fall will be by the Ohio University art and design faculty from all of OU’s campuses, Pauley said. The Ohio University Art and Design Faculty Biennial Exhibition will be on display from Sept. 16 – Dec. 23.
“The scope of this exhibition has been expanded to include art and design faculty teaching at Ohio University's five regional campuses,” Pauley said.
The Kennedy Art Museum first opened to the public in October 1996 after a $4.5 million renovation. The museum is named to honor Mr. and Mrs. Edwin L. Kennedy, who donated to Ohio University their large collection of Southwest Native American textiles and jewelry, Pauley said.
Arts for OHIO keeps students informed and up to date with events and exhibitions going on by updating the calendar on the OHIO webpage.
“Students can find a full listing on the Ohio University calendar on the main OHIO webpage, and events are updated and added each week,” Cornish said .
From July 30 to August 13, Tantrum Theater Presents: Dancing at Lughnasa, an Irish play, was held at the Abbey Theatre. Dancing at Lughnasa is a play told from the point of view of a man who grew up in a fictional Irish town.
From now until mid September, Merging Concepts, which is an exhibit presented by the 2015-16 class of the Museum Studies Certificate Program, will be held at the Kennedy Art Museum.
Merging Concepts is “a transdisciplinary exhibition that was planned and executed by the students,” who were given a general theme for the collection and then presented a unique interpretation of this theme, Pauley said.
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