Two art exhibits, “Legacy: Don Adleta and Karen Nulf, 60 years of Graphic Design” and “REACH: 50+ Years of Works by OHIO Graphic Design Alumni” are honoring the creativity and strength of OU’s graphic design program. “Legacy” is on display through March 28 at the Kennedy Museum of Art. “REACH” ran through March 6 at the Trisolini Gallery and is currently available for viewing online.
“Legacy” specifically recognized the impact of retiring professor emeritus, Don Adleta, and retired professor emeritus, Karen Nulf. The two worked to grow and strengthen the graphic design program at OU.
The pair’s legacy has continued after their retirement, though. Along with their intellectual contributions to the OU community, Nulf and Adleta have given several tangible gifts, too. Nulf made a number of contributions to the OU Type Shop and Bindery, donating materials like letterforms and arranging for presses to be donated.
Soon, the Type Shop and Bindery will be named the Don E. Adleta Type Shop and Bindery in Adleta’s honor.
“I said to the Ohio University Foundation that I will donate (my house) to Ohio University in a trust fund that will survive me,” Adleta said. “When I pass away, it becomes something that is theirs, and it will have a value. And as a result of that, they said that they would name the Type Shop and the Bindery the Don E. Adleta Type Shop and Bindery. So, there will be a perpetuation of my name in the school.”
The design program will be further supported by the newly-established Fine Arts Designer in Residence Fund. Elliot Strunk, OU graphic design alumnus, and Betsy Burton-Strunk, his wife, established a $25,000 endowment for the fund. The College of Fine Arts raised about $10,000 more for the fund through the OU Scalefunder platform as well.
The fund was created to “celebrate design at OU and the legacy of extraordinary faculty Karen Nulf and Don Adleta,” according to the OU Scalefunder website. Funds will be used to bring design practitioners to campus and online for virtual residencies at Ohio University.
During their time at OU, Adleta and Nulf taught hundreds of students. “REACH” celebrates the work of those former students. “REACH’s” title encompasses the spirit of the exhibit well; the diversity of work that has been created by OU graphic design alumni is expansive.
“One person is redesigning the Serbian currency,” Adleta said. “One person designed Prince's Purple Rain album cover. One person designed the sets for Lady Gaga. One person did the new Yankee Stadium. Another person did a movie documentary on the honorable John Lewis.”
Included in the “REACH” exhibit is the work of OU alumni, Tricia Hennessy, professor of graphic design at Western Michigan University and Strunk, creative director at Honestly. Hennessy learned from Nulf when she attended OU, and credits Nulf with being one of the people who inspired her deep engagement with graphic design.
Hennessy’s featured work included designs for the Association for Behavior Analysis International’s conventions and Western Michigan University’s New Issues Poetry & Prose. She believes that graphic design is about something bigger than the individual, and reflects that in her work.
“It's more than just seeing your work somewhere,” Hennessy said. “It's more about how did that work address its audience, how was it successfully perceived and what do people learn from your work.”
Strunk studied under both Nulf and Adleta. His featured exhibition work was a Krispy Kreme poster that commemorated the 65-year anniversary of the company’s existence. Like Hennessy, he credits his time at OU with fostering his passion for graphic design.
“(OU) really focused my creativity,” Strunk said. “I entered as an artist, I entered as a creative person, but I left OU as a designer. The faculty (were) really able to sort of channel and focus my efforts to help me find what I was good at and what I love to do.”
“Legacy” and “REACH” exist in conversation with each other. Juxtaposing the teacher and the student and the past and the present, the exhibits showcase the breadth of OU’s graphic design program.
“I think it (is) poetic,” Strunk said. “On the one hand it's like, here's Don and Karen and the things that they've created over the course of their career, then here is the alumni exhibition and this is what was born out of all the people who went through the program.”
