An array of artwork can be seen in the Ohio Union starting tomorrow.

Ohio Staters, Inc., a student service group at Ohio State, has joined forces with the Ohio Union with the goal of creating an art collection for the union.

“To ensure the permanence of the collection, I assembled a group of people from the university community to form the Ohio Union Art Board, a new organization whose purpose is to manage the collection,” said Michelle Robinson, a senior in economics and business.

Robinson is a student member of Ohio Staters, and is the founding co-chairwoman of the Staters’ project establishing the collection and the art board.

The Ohio Union Art Board is composed of Ohio State faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students with art and non-art backgrounds.

The idea for this art collection came up in October 2002 when Robinson was talking with the director of the Ohio Union.

“I thought this would be an original service project, and that it would definitely benefit the university,” Robinson said.

“It’s wonderful that Ohio Staters wanted to take this project on,” said Beth Ullum, coordinator of special projects at the Ohio Union, and a member of the Ohio Union Art Board. “Right now, the union is looking a little sparse, and this artwork would not only be for the current Ohio Union, but for the new union when we get one,” she said.

Ohio Staters has contributed over $10,000 to the project and intends to donate more, Robinson said.

The inaugural Ohio Staters collection will be displayed on the second floor of the union, Robinson said. The art will remain along that wall for one year, and then pieces will be spread throughout the union. New works of art will be placed along the wall where the first collection was displayed.

“Just imagine how much artwork we will have after five, 10 or 20 years. The union is going to be absolutely spectacular,” said Prudence Gill, the Hopkins Gallery curator for the Department of Art and a member of the Ohio Union Art Board. “Student unions with art collections are stunning; it’s so much fun to be inside of those unions,” she said.

The Ohio Union Art Board has selected seven different works, all of the pieces coming from undergraduate students, graduate students or alumni of OSU. These pieces were found at the Gilmore Competition, the Undergraduate Juried Art Exhibition and in graduate student studios, Robinson said.

“All of the works in the inaugural collection are two-dimensional, but eventually the board hopes to acquire three-dimensional pieces,” Gill said. “It has to start somewhere, and it’s a challenge when it comes to integrating art into an extremely active building like the Ohio Union,” she said.

The inaugural collection will be publicly unveiled today from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Ohio Union Main Lounge.