"The Risk Worth Taking" a visual art exhibition by NIU School of Art and Design alumnus Kevin Cole will run in the...
Art and Design Archives
Commencement Profile: Skye McCord, BS Anthropology and Art History
Skye McCord, who earned their BS in anthropology and art history was profiled in a video that ran during commencement...
From NIU to the Ivy League, Skye McCord to study archaeology at Cornell University
Skye McCord remembers becoming fascinated by archaeology by watching as many documentaries and PBS Nova episodes on...
Art and Design students research how high school art teachers are using AI
When Kelly Gross, assistant professor of visual arts education at NIU received a grant from the NIU Student Engagement Fund for a study into the use of artificial intelligence, she knew which students of hers would be perfect for it. She approached Lane Staffeldt and...
NIU Sculpture presents outdoor group exhibition at Gurler House
Continuing the Gurler House’s tradition as a long-standing space of community gathering, the Northern Illinois University Sculpture and property owner, Shane Harris, extend a welcome to the neighbors, friends, and passersby to engage with the work of Illinois and...
Sinclair Bell named 2026 Presidential Research, Scholarship and Artistry Professor
Whether it’s expertise on Roman chariot racing and spectacle of the circus in ancient Rome, serving as research director on an archaeological dig in Italy, conducting research into race, representation and social practice on Romans in antiquity, or bringing his...
Finding Beauty in a Fractured World, the 2026 B.A./B.S. Art Exhibition opens March 30
The annual spring group exhibition of work by students in the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degree programs in the NIU School of Art and Design will open March 30 in the Jack Olson Gallery. Finding Beauty in a Fractured World runs from March 30 through...
Kelly Gross named Illinois Higher Education Art Educator of the Year
Kelly Gross, Ph.D., assistant professor of art and design education in the NIU School of Art and Design has been named the 2025-2026 Higher Education Art Educator of the Year by the Illinois Art Education Association (IAEA). Gross was honored at their annual...
NIU faculty, alumni and students highlight annual National Art Education Association conference
A strong contingent of faculty, alumni and students will represent the NIU School of Art and Design's art and design education program at this year's National Art Education Association conference in Chicago March 5-7. Three members of the faculty are being awarded...
Douglas Boughton to receive NAEA’s Viktor Lowenfeld Award
Douglas Boughton, professor of art and design education in the NIU School of Art and Design has won just about every major award in his field, and that now includes the Viktor Lowenfeld Award from the National Art Education Association. Boughton’s career as an art...
Nora (Balayti) Reuter, ’06, combines her interests in a new children’s book on someone’s first trip to Wrigley Field
When Nora (Balayti) Reuter was working shifts as a bartender at Murphy’s Bleachers, the popular sports bar located just steps from the bleacher entrance of beautiful and historic Wrigley Field, little did she know that she was also doing prep work for a future book...
National Art Education Association honors NIU’s Kerry Freedman with Eisner Award
Dr. Kerry Freedman, professor of art and design education in the NIU School of Art and Design is the 2026 recipient of the National Art Education Association’s Eisner Lifetime Achievement Award. Freedman has previously been honored by the NAEA with the National Higher...