West Virginia University faculty member Kristina Olson has been named Director of the School of Art & Design, effective July 1.

“Kristina Olson is a decorated educator who brings a wealth of knowledge to the position, having held leadership positions in the school for over a decade,” said College of Creative Arts Dean Keith Jackson. “Her strength as a communicator and her history of passionate advocacy for the arts makes her an incredible leader for our School of Art & Design.”

West Virginia University School of Art & Design Faculty, students and alumni are teaming up for “Trifecta: WVU Ceramics, Printmaking and Sculpture Showcase,” at Love Hope Center for the Arts in Fayetteville, April 16 - June 4.

"This exhibition will highlight the relationship between the faculty in these specific areas of study and their current graduate students,” said Jason Lee, associate professor of sculpture. "The work will showcase the variety of ideas, processes, and media that reside within not only these individual programs but the School of Art and Design as a whole."

Stephanie Alaniz

Lotus MacDowell has been a staple in the North Central West Virginia art community for nearly four decades. Her legacy is now growing with a planned gift commitment in the West Virginia University School of Art & Design. 

MacDowell’s gift will support a scholarship for painting students, with first preference given to students concentrating on realism.

Dear College of Creative Arts students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends,

I want to address recent concerns and misunderstandings that have been circulating regarding the future of some academic programs within the College of Creative Arts here at West Virginia University.

A new Master of Arts degree in Game Design at West Virginia University will prepare graduates for careers in the growing global gamification industry.

“With more than $30 billion in annual revenue in the United States alone, the game market offers a great opportunity for artists, designers, coders and interactive media authors to target their creative talents toward a rewarding career,” said Douglas Barkey, EdD, coordinator of the Game Design program in WVU’s School of Art and Design.

Derek Reese, a West Virginia University School of Art & Design alumnus and Morgantown native, is representing the United States in international contemporary art exposition Art Bienal in Antofagasta, Chile through Nov. 30.

As part of the international contemporary art exposition, his video-based exhibition titled “Masculine Artifacts” will be exhibited at the Esquina Retornable, a cinema house located in the Playa Blanca neighborhood of Antofagasta. 

Members of the West Virginia University Art History department traveled to Rock Hill, South Carolina to join faculty and students in the Department of Anthropology at Winthrop University on a collaborative exhibition of Pre-Columbian artifacts from the Salazar Collection in honor of the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States.

On display through October 1, 2021 at the Louise Pettus Archive in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the exhibition "Preserved in Clay and Stone: Celebrating the History of Ancient Latin America" features 20 objects from the Salazar Latin American Artifacts Collection. The works represent several periods of Latin American culture and history and were selected for their emphasis on gender roles and animal imagery. 

The Art Museum of West Virginia University will resume its free, in-person Lunchtime Looks Lecture Series on Friday Sept. 10. WVU’s School of Art & Design Associate Director Kristina Olson will lead the discussion on the museum’s latest exhibition "Rauschenberg in China: The Lotus Series.”

Olson teaches modern and contemporary art history. She is co-editor of the book “Social Practice Art in Turbulent Times: The Revolution Will Be Live,” author of many exhibition catalogues and an exhibition reviewer for several art magazines and journals.