Ohio State University (OSU) is showcasing its campus art collection with a new website and mobile app.
To help the university community better appreciate the art collection, Megan Cavanaugh, the campus art collection manager, has spent the last month or so hanging QR codes near most of the university’s public artworks. The QR codes direct users to the Bloomberg Connects app, which now features a guide to the public art at OSU.
“I will admit, as I’ve been putting these signs up, I’m making a little bit of a ruckus,” Cavanaugh said about her recent project. “I’m hoping people will notice and wonder what I’m doing, then come over, look at the sign and scan the QR code.”
Bloomberg’s app is currently used by more than 550 institutions – including zoos, museums, galleries, and landmarks – around the world.
“They want to support the arts,” said Cavanaugh. “They want to help institutions get their content out. They want people to take advantage of it as a resource.”
In addition to information about art pieces on campus, the app also features campus maps and information for visitors.
Lisa Florman, the university’s vice provost for the arts, also has been working on a new arts website.
“That was at the top of my wish list when I started this job,” said Florman, who started in her role in 2017.
Florman is tasked with raising the visibility of the arts at Ohio State University. In a press release, she explained that the issue is not a lack of art across the university’s campus, but rather a lack of awareness.
“We’re quite good in the arts,” she said. “It’s been surprising to me, though, that people who’ve lived in the area for a long time aren’t aware of that. So, we want to do whatever we can do to bring awareness to all that good work. If we can tell those stories in one place, I think the overwhelming evidence will make it clear that we have a lot of impressive things going on.”
The website has information about special initiatives, public art, and a university-wide arts events calendar, which is a first according to Cavanaugh.
“This includes all the College of Arts and Sciences areas – dance, theater, music, visual arts – but it also includes the Knowlton School, the libraries and the Wexner Center for the Arts. It will include non-academic areas like Urban Arts Space. Anything that feels arts-adjacent, we’re happy to put it on there.”
The university’s goal with both the website and the app is to encourage interactions with the arts across Ohio State’s campuses.
“I think you have to have curiosity, to want to learn more about something,” Cavanaugh said. “There’s a lot of stimuli in people’s worlds; we’re fighting through many things for people’s attention. But if we can pull one strand of curiosity, that can lead to learning so much.”
