Thank you so much for considering a gift to the School of Art!
The School of Art provides an exceptional education to students in studio art, animation, art education, art history, graphic design and graphic arts management. This year we are developing new opportunities for students to showcase their creativity and research skills, collaborating with community partners, and hosting a wide variety of exhibitions and events.
We are excited to have fundraising challenges from beloved alumni like Jim Davis and perennial supporters like Fred Meyer. Your gift can earn you a key/coat hook handmade by sculpture professor Michael Lorsung or a trip to the art museum and a chat over coffee with art history professor Kendra Grimmett.
All gifts on One Ball State Day go toward supporting students through scholarships, grants for art supplies, and more. We are grateful for each and every one of you and appreciate any level of support!
Please direct your gift to one or more of the following funds:
The School of Art General Fund is the most flexible way to designate your gift. This fund provides support for things like supplies, events, publicity, and programming for the entire School of Art.
The School of Art is committed to recognizing excellence by providing scholarships and awards to students as they pursue their creative development. For the first time in 2024, we also gave awards to first-year Foundations students who exhibited work in the Beginnings exhibition. Your gifts to this fund will help us to continue to offer significant financial help to students in all programs at all levels.
The Ned and Gloria Griner Art Gallery exhibits art by students, faculty, and visiting artists for the entire BSU and Muncie community. Students learn to create work for public display, write about their work and that of their peers and mentors, and engage with visiting creative professionals. Your donation will support these unique learning experiences for School of Art students and add to the Muncie art scene.
In addition to the costs of tuition, living expenses, and books, School of Art students also have out of pocket materials and supplies costs. We work to keep these costs to a minimum, but art and design supplies are not cheap, and out of pocket expenses can be a challenge for our students. Your gift to this fund will be used for art research, to award grants, and for students pursuing study in a wide range of media and subjects, from darkroom photography to woodworking to video games to archival research at museums and libraries, and more.
Art history professor Dr. Kendra Grimmett is working to restart our Art in Italy program as a summer study abroad in 2026. Gifts to this fund will support students who sign up for this amazing experience. The top individual (one-time) gift of $50 or more to this fund will be invited to enjoy a cappuccino and private tour of the David Owsley Museum of Art’s Italian art collection with Dr. Grimmett. Grazie!
We recently reached out to alumni of our Visual Communication/Graphic Design program and many shared wonderful memories of their experiences studying with beloved professor Fred Bower. (Thank you, friends!) We hope you will enjoy reading some of those responses below and invite you to make a gift in honor of Fred to support juniors and seniors in Graphic Design.
"Fred had a way of making you feel free to be your true creative self. He encouraged me to explore and express whatever I wanted to be, and that freedom has stayed with me ever since."
- Skyler Elzy (Visual Communication, 2011)
“Fred Bower was such an inspiring teacher and mentor. He always encouraged you to think outside the box and create designs using unorthodox techniques. Many that didn’t involve computers. These lessons have carried with me throughout my career. All these years later, I often find myself looking at design proofs asking myself ‘What would Fred do?’ Usually, it takes me in an unexpected direction and always makes the final result better.”
-Jaclyn Oler (Visual Communication, 2011)
“It was one of Fred’s “ALL VIS COM” emails that got me connected to my first internship in Indianapolis. That internship turned into a full-time job that I blossomed and grew in for 8.5 years. A year ago, I finally left that job with the confidence to start my own design business that has outperformed my expectations. Thanks for all you did for us, Fred.”
-Chad Hostetter (Visual Communication, 2015)
"I learned a great deal from Fred, both in design and life. His patience and encouragement helped me build confidence as a designer and artist. I believe Fred’s influence is reflected in my career choices, which include working with non-profits and now teaching myself."
-Lacey Lantz (Visual Communication, 2013)
“I still have a package of his fortune-telling wrapping paper. I enjoyed his class outings when we'd wander to other parts of the building or campus. We'd follow him and his ‘tour guide flag’ with the genuine curiosity of tourists, unsure where we were headed and what we'd see.”
-Megan Hampton (Visual Communication, 2008)
“I vividly remember Fred sitting in front of us, saying, ‘I want to show you something…’ and then pausing before adding, ‘I was yawning in front of a client.’ We all laughed, but the moment stuck with me—Fred’s wit and wisdom always reminded us to be prepared for real-world challenges. Even now, in meetings where I can’t yawn publicly, I think of him with a smile. Fred's legacy of preparing us for both the practical and human sides of our careers has made a lasting impression on me.”
-Claire Lacey (Visual Communication, 2006)
“I always remember Fred showing up. He made me feel supported. He was warm, gave feedback with care and encouraged me to put myself into my work - whether it was highlighting a personal interest, including my own photography, handwriting or nods to my family history. He also sponsored our student AIGA chapter that allowed me to visit nearby cities, make lasting friendships, land an internship and launch my career.”
-Anna Meier (Visual Communication and Photography, 2008)
“Fred would take the class on field trips (both on and off campus). He had a tiny flag he would hold up in the air and we’d all follow behind him like ducklings or little kids in a preschool class. He always found ways to make my class laugh and smile and that will always be one of my favorite memories during my time at BSU!”
-Lea Squadrito (Visual Communication, 2007)
“Fred was so kind and invested in his students, he went beyond the classroom in his efforts to share his love of design by taking us on field trips to places like paper companies and artist studios. He had the best weird side, parading us through the art department with a tiny flag and mixing things up so we weren't constantly in front of screens. I'm very grateful I got to spend time with him not just as a professor but as a unique person with a distinct voice.”
-Laura Merriman (Visual Communication, 2013)
“I’ve often thought of Fred (and all my design professors over the years) and still use to this day MANY of the lessons and knowledge he taught. It is because of my time with Fred and the BSU art faculty that my work is found in every major retailer in the country today.”
-Medea (Curry) Peabody (Visual Communication, 2004)
“I graduated from Ball State in 2011 with a degree in Visual Communication, where I had the pleasure of learning from Fred Bower—one of my favorite professors. His quirky, dry humor made his classes unforgettable. I still chuckle at his comment that, as graphic designers, ‘we design trash,’ since so much of our work eventually ends up discarded. It’s a lighthearted reminder not to take myself too seriously in the creative process!”
-Bethany Wellman (Visual Communication, 2011)
Challenges
Twenty-five gifts to the School of Art General Fund will unlock a $250 gift from Fred Meyer (BSU Professor Emeritus and sponsor of the Fred Meyer Lecture in Cultural Policy and Arts Advocacy).
Twenty-five gifts to the School of Art before 5pm will unlock a $500 match from Jim Davis (’67 LittD ’91, creator of the iconic comic strip Garfield).
The top 2 individual (one-time) gifts of $100 or more to the School of Art will receive a handmade wooden key/coat hook courtesy of Michael Lorsung.
Twenty gifts to the School of Art before noon will unlock $250 match from Dr. Lara Kuykendall to provide further funding for students' supplies for making art or conducting research.
| Rank | State | Gifts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | NONE | 0 |
| 1 | AA | 0 |
| 1 | AE | 0 |
