The Ohio State University has selected Kate Shannon, associate professor in the Department of Art at Ohio State Mansfield, as its 2025-26 Artist Laureate. Shannon will begin a one-year appointment on July 1, 2025.
“Kate’s talent lies in empowering community members to share their narratives,” said Vice Provost for the Arts Lisa Florman. “Through her work with historical photographs and community engagement, she has made a profound impact. As Artist Laureate, she will continue to be an exemplary ambassador, enriching people’s lives through her work and cultivating an interest in and understanding of the past across Ohio.”
Shannon has dedicated much of her creative research at Ohio State to cultivating lasting, positive community engagement and inclusion through the arts. Her work reflects on early photography as a tangible medium for preserving human experience and explores how digital technology continues to define the ways we create, share and consume images.
As Artist Laureate, 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 historical photographs and early photographic techniques, examining how the medium has evolved from careful, hands-on processes to today’s quick, easy-to-capture digital images. Shannon intends to engage local archivists, historians and community members, inviting them to share their own photographic materials — from family albums to regional collections — to enrich public awareness of Ohio’s rich visual history. In many of the workshops, participants will also be able create “camera-less images” of objects unique to their surroundings using the 19th-century cyanotype process, which produces blue-toned prints through a light-sensitive chemical reaction. By combining image-making with the study of historical works, Shannon aims to help participants connect with the history of photography and gain a deeper appreciation of its impact on cultural memory.
Shannon teaches a variety of courses, including photography, digital imaging and expanded media. Her digitally manipulated photographs have been exhibited across the United States. She recently showcased her curation of 19th-century American photographs at Ohio State’s Rare Books & Manuscripts Library and is now working on a creative project supported by a Funds for Artists grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council that examines these historical items using digital tools.
She has been recognized with several awards, including the Mansfield campus’s 2013 award for Excellence in Scholarship and its 2010 Award for Excellence in Teaching. Shannon joined Ohio State in 2009 as a lecturer, after receiving her MFA from the Department of Art that year.
The Ohio State Artist Laureate program began in 2023 to bring the arts to communities across Ohio. Nyama McCarthy-Brown, associate professor in the Department of Dance, was Ohio State’s inaugural Artist Laureate during the 2023-24 academic year. Her term included dance workshops and performances at Ohio State’s regional campuses and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Kevin McClatchy, associate professor in the Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts, is the current Artist Laureate. He presented his Shakespeare and Autism Project at six locations across the state and is engaging with the military-connected community through his interactive solo show, Scrap Heap, during the spring semester.