Visual art and design
Our visual arts and design community, which includes the Department of Art, Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy, Department of Design, Department of History of Art and the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD), advances contemporary aesthetic thought and practice in bold, compelling ways. We provoke thought, experiment, conduct research and forge interdisciplinary connections that demonstrate art’s presence in every facet of living.
Our galleries are laboratories where our artists gain curatorial and exhibition experiences, showcase new work and engage with off-campus communities.
Performing arts
The opportunities for musicians, thespians and dancers in the Arts and Sciences are limitless. In the Department of Theatre, Film and Media Arts, the Department of Dance and the School of Music, which includes The Ohio State University Marching Band, our artists push the boundaries of creative performance, expression and research.
While our creativity enriches our university, it extends beyond campus. Through collaboration with arts organizations in the Short North and downtown Columbus, our performing arts community forges valuable opportunities and connections between students, faculty and professional artists.
Welcome to the Arts District
The visual and performing arts welcome you to the newly completed Arts District on High Street! This vibrant hub for arts education, artistic expression and arts entrepreneurship is ready to show you everything the arts at Ohio State have to offer.
Galleries and Collections in the Arts and Sciences
Hopkins Hall Gallery
Located at the heart of Ohio State’s campus within the Arts District, Hopkins Hall Gallery boasts exhibitions highlighting the latest work from students, faculty and staff from across the university. Hopkins Hall Gallery works in conjunction with the Urban Arts Space, a gallery and creative space in downtown Columbus.
Urban Arts Space
Located in the historic Lazarus Building in downtown Columbus, Urban Arts Space is a gallery and reciprocal learning space not just for the Ohio State community, but for all of central Ohio. A key part of Columbus’ arts and culture scene, Urban Arts Space keeps its calendar full of new exhibitions, educational programs, outreach initiatives and events.
Orton Geological Museum
Home to Cryolophosaurus ellioti, a dinosaur discovered by an Ohio State researcher during an expedition in Antarctica, the Orton Geological Museum houses a vast collection of fossils, rocks and minerals from Ohio and around the world. The museum is free and open to the public.
Hybrid Arts Lab
The Hybrid Arts Lab, housed within Urban Arts Space, is a multi-venue learning lab that experiments with how art is imagined, made, viewed and understood. Existing in both digital and physical spaces, Hybrid Arts Lab encourages collaboration, experimental approaches to artmaking and an inclination towards asking big questions that ignite thoughtful conversations.
Museum of Biological Diversity
Housed on West Campus, the Museum of Biological Diversity comprises the extensive and varied biological specimen collections at Ohio State — from fish to mollusks, tetrapods and insects.
Museum of Classical Archaeology
The Museum of Classical Archaeology is a collaboration between the Department of Classics, the Department of History and the Department of History of Art that studies the intersections of art, architecture and culture of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Galleries and Collections in the Arts and Sciences
Hopkins Hall Gallery
Located at the heart of Ohio State’s campus within the Arts District, Hopkins Hall Gallery boasts exhibitions highlighting the latest work from students, faculty and staff from across the university. Hopkins Hall Gallery works in conjunction with the Urban Arts Space, a gallery and creative space in downtown Columbus.
Urban Arts Space
Located in the historic Lazarus Building in downtown Columbus, Urban Arts Space is a gallery and reciprocal learning space not just for the Ohio State community, but for all of central Ohio. A key part of Columbus’ arts and culture scene, Urban Arts Space keeps its calendar full of new exhibitions, educational programs, outreach initiatives and events.
Orton Geological Museum
Home to Cryolophosaurus ellioti, a dinosaur discovered by an Ohio State researcher during an expedition in Antarctica, the Orton Geological Museum houses a vast collection of fossils, rocks and minerals from Ohio and around the world. The museum is free and open to the public.
Hybrid Arts Lab
The Hybrid Arts Lab, housed within Urban Arts Space, is a multi-venue learning lab that experiments with how art is imagined, made, viewed and understood. Existing in both digital and physical spaces, Hybrid Arts Lab encourages collaboration, experimental approaches to artmaking and an inclination towards asking big questions that ignite thoughtful conversations.
Museum of Biological Diversity
Housed on West Campus, the Museum of Biological Diversity comprises the extensive and varied biological specimen collections at Ohio State — from fish to mollusks, tetrapods and insects.
Museum of Classical Archaeology
The Museum of Classical Archaeology is a collaboration between the Department of Classics, the Department of History and the Department of History of Art that studies the intersections of art, architecture and culture of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum
The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum houses the world’s largest collection of materials related to cartoons and comics, including original art, books, magazines, journals, comic books, archival materials, and newspaper comic strip pages and clippings.
Fine Arts Library
Designed to advance and study of the visual arts, the Fine Arts Library contains over 150,000 volumes of arts-related material from around the world.
Huntington Archive of Buddhist and Related Art
In 1986, John and Susan Huntington, professors in the Department of History of Art, formally expanded their photographic collection with the Huntington Archive, which represents over 40 years of their field documentation photography.
Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theater Research Institute
The Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute collects, preserves and makes accessible materials documenting the performing arts, serving as a vast archive for performers, playwrights, choreographers, designers and artists.
Music and Dance Library
Located in the 18th Avenue Library, the Music and Dance Library boasts a massive collection of audio and video recordings, music scores and parts, and books and periodicals on music and dance.
Thompson Library
The Thompson Library gallery features exhibits from University Libraries’ special sections and curated by experts from around the university.
Hale Black Cultural Center Gallery
The Hale Black Cultural Center Gallery is one of the largest Black art collections in the United States and is recognized by the Association of Black Culture Centers as one of the top five in the country.
Faculty Club Gallery
The Faculty Club Gallery highlights some of the finest artists in the country, all with ties to Ohio State.
Performing arts facilities
Sullivant Hall, a three-story Neoclassical Revival building that dates back to 1912, was completely reconstructed and refigured in a two-year project that included major core and shell infrastructure improvements, creating more visibility and better spaces for students. Today, Sullivant Hall brings together multiple arts units on campus, opening up new creative opportunities for students to work together in the visual and performing arts.
Sullivant Hall is home to:
- Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD)
- Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise
- Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy
- Department of Dance
- Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum
In the Theatre, Film and Media Arts Building, faculty, staff and students — previously located a 20-minute walk away at the Drake Performance and Event Center — join the Arts District in the heart of campus.
- Five-floor building, with classroom, performance, studio and office space on four floors, a top-floor mechanical room and a lower level for mechanical and back-of-house operations
- New, state-of-the-art performance spaces, including a 450-seat proscenium theatre and a hybrid thrust/black box theatre
- Spaces for students to create, including a New Works Lab for new and experimental productions, a lighting lab, a design studio, and a costume shop
- Spaces for students studying film, moving image production and media arts, including two sound stages, editing suites, a sound lab and a screening room
The Timashev Family Music Building opened to students, faculty and the public in Autumn 2022. This state-of-the-art facility houses the entire Ohio State School of Music. This new building is located in front of the original Weigel Hall which remains part of the building, to the east side of the Timashev, though its exterior is no longer visible from College Road.
- Five-floor building, with classroom, performance, studio and office space on all levels, and a lower level for mechanical and back-of-house operations
- Expansive lobby that connects the new Timashev Family Music Building to a renovated Weigel Hall
- A new 195-seat recital hall offers a new performance space, joining the existing 720-seat Weigel Auditorium
- Improved acoustics throughout the facility
- New large ensemble rehearsal space
- Studios for jazz and percussion
- New practice rooms for students
Visual arts facilities
Hopkins Hall recently underwent a complete two-year, two-phase renovation. On the outside, the dated brick exterior of the circa-1959 building was replaced with gleaming walls of glass. Inside, the entire structure was reconfigured to create more effective use of space for artists to work together, all with a nod to sustainability and energy efficiency.
Hopkins Hall houses the university’s Department of Art and nearly all of its program areas, including ceramics, art and technology, photography, drawing and painting and printmaking.
Hopkins Hall is home to:
- Department of Art
- Hopkins Hall Gallery
Hayes Hall was built in 1893 and is the oldest existing building on campus. Named for Rutherford B Hayes, U.S. president and three-time governor of Ohio, it was constructed in the Romanesque style of architecture and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hayes Hall was completely renovated in 2010 as part of the comprehensive plan to make significant improvements to the university’s arts facilities. Today, the revitalized facility houses all three Department of Design programs together in one building. These programs – interior design, industrial design, and visual communication design – are housed on the first and second floors, with new spaces on the second floor that were reconfigured to create open studios for student work.
Hayes Hall is home to:
- Department of Design
Located in the revived Mirror Lake District, Pomerene Hall has long been an emblem of campus. Its recent $60 million renovation — most of which was funded by the state of Ohio — is the building’s first major update in nearly a century.
Built in 1922, the hall originally served as a women’s student union, complete with a gymnasium and a swimming pool. In recent years the iconic building saw little use for its size.
The history of art main office, seminar spaces and graduate student reading room have largely been kept intact, and an updated faculty suite and new undergraduate study room will breathe new life into the department. For the undergraduate data analytics major, the renovation provides the program’s first dedicated physical space on campus.
Pomerene Hall is home to
- Department of History of Art
- Data analytics major
- Translational Data Analytics Institute
The Sherman Studio Art Center, situated on Ohio State’s West Campus, is home to the Department of Art’s glass and sculpture areas. Artist and alumnus Roy Lichtenstein endowed the center in honor of former Ohio State Art Professor Hoyt L. Sherman.
The glass program occupies 11 rooms of the center, which is equipped for "hot" glass forming including glassblowing and glass casting; "warm" processes including glass fusing, slumping, casting, enameling and decorative surface work; and "cold working" glass such as grinding, cutting, drilling, sandblasting and construction of stained glass and fabricated sculpture.
The sculpture area houses a foundry, full metal fabrication shop, full wood shop and plenty of fabrication space.
Sculpture and glass students share a gallery, The Clean Space, a 35-by-24 foot space used for class critiques, student exhibitions, artwork experimentation and documentation.