Artist Laureate Program
The aim is to bring the arts to underserved communities across the state and to engage with those communities in shared experiences that will, ideally, enrich and inform the audience and the Laureate alike.
The Laureate is selected each year through a competitive process and granted financial support for a 50% course release for the academic year and $15,000 to enable travel to regional campuses and other university sites and communities across Ohio to exhibit, perform, read or otherwise share their work with a diverse set of audiences.
Kate Shannon
Associate Professor Kate Shannon will serve as Ohio State’s Artist Laureate during the 2025-26 academic year. A faculty member in the Department of Art who teaches on the Mansfield campus, Shannon will host a series of hands-on workshops across the state, helping community members of all ages connect with the history of photography and gain a deeper appreciation for its impact on cultural memory. Participants will be introduced to early photographic techniques, examining how the medium has evolved from its early time-intensive material processes to today’s quick, easy-to-capture digital images.
Kevin McClatchy
Kevin McClatchy served as The Ohio State University Artist Laureate during the 2024-25 academic year. McClatchy focused on two projects during his tenure: an expansion of the Shakespeare and Autism Project, which he directs, and sharing his one-person show, “Scrap Heap,” with audiences across state.
Nyama McCarthy-Brown
Nyama McCarthy-Brown, associate professor in the Department of Dance, was Ohio State’s inaugural Artist Laureate. Her term, which ran from July 1, 2023, until the end of June 2024, included workshops and performances at, among other places, Gahanna Middle School South, Ohio State’s regional campuses in Lima and Mansfield, Miami University (Ohio), and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.