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Youngstown State University Department of Art

Founded in 1935

Origins of the Department of Art

The Department of Art at Youngstown State University began in 1935 as an initiative of Howard Jones, the first president of the university. He supported the concept that aesthetics and art play a major role in the development of the individual in society. Jones appointed Margaret Evans, former director and curator of The Butler Institute of American Art, to teach and direct the development of art courses in the curriculum. Evans began to establish a curriculum that led to a career in art education in elementary and secondary schools. During this period of development, art classes were held at The Butler Institute of American Art, the Mill Creek Park Art Museum, and various locations on campus, ranging from private mansions along Wick Avenue to the World War II army barracks built on campus.

Initial degree program

In 1939, the Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in art was offered. However, World War II interrupted the development of this major. Immediately following the war, the G.I. Bill of Rights stimulated rapid growth in student enrollment at the college and along with that, an increase of first-generation college students. In 1947, an official major in art was established and Evans became the first chairperson. David Skeggs was appointed as the first full-time instructor in the new program and later became chair after Evans’ retirement in 1953.

Locations

In 1958, the department moved into its first permanent home in West Hall, a carriage house on the main campus. In 1976, the department moved to its present location in Bliss Hall. An important expansion of the department’s programming came about with the opening of the McDonough Museum of Art in 1991. Through the generosity of Dr. John J. McDonough, the new facility was created for the exhibition of work by students, faculty, and local, regional, and national artists. A prominent local resident and collector of American impressionist paintings, Dr. McDonough donated the auction proceeds from the painting "Gloucester Harbor" by Childe Hassam to establish a building fund for the museum. The McDonough Museum provided opportunities that were never before available to students, from fine arts majors exhibiting their own work to advanced art history students curating exhibitions. The first senior shows began there in 1992.

Collaborations with The Butler Institute of American Art

In 1995, The Butler Institute of American Art received a gift of $1 million from local philanthropist Eleanor Beecher Flad and her family. This gift formed the basis for a cooperative project between The Butler and the Department of Art when the state of Ohio designated an additional $2.5 million to create the funding for the Beecher Center for Art and Technology. Completed in 1999, this 19,000 square-foot facility houses a high-technology auditorium, exhibition spaces for new-media artworks, research and conference areas, and studio space for YSU students and visiting artists.

Bliss Hall expansion

In 2003, the department opened an 18,000 square-foot state-of-the-art studio building within Bliss Hall, which contains production facilities for painting, metal fabrication, bronze and iron casting, woodworking, and three-dimensional computer visualization. The $3.3 million building expanded the Department of Art's production facilities to over 60,000 square-feet of specialized media labs.

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