Community + Collaboration

A community that inspires

We hear from students time and time again that they visited our school because of its reputation, but stayed because they immediately felt part of our community.

The very first goal in our 2030 strategic plan is to cultivate a welcoming working and learning environment. We are a group of passionate artists, leaders, and innovators who seek to provide  a vibrant, supportive community where all feel valued and inspired.

That sense of community extends outward. The Eskenazi School collaborates nationally and internationally with institutional and civic partners, creative industries, and non-profts to uniquely leverage the power of art, architecture, design, and merchandising to improve lives through community engagement.

The environment is friendly, allowing me to feel open to express myself without judgment. We encourage each other to reach new goals and communicate our ideas in new and better ways.

Matt Whitley, M.F.A. Digital Art

Designing a better commute

In a city renowned for its design, masters students in the Eskenazi School’s Miller Architecture Program have made their own contribution: a bus shelter for the ColumBUS Transit system in Columbus, Ind. The project was undertaken as part of the Design-Build Studio, a cornerstone of the Miller program’s pedagogy. Informed by community goals for accessibility, safety, climate protection, and sustainability, the shelter was installed in the spring of 2025 at NexusPark with funds from the American Institute of Steel Construction, The Heritage Fund, and The City of Columbus, along with numerous contributions in kind from area businesses. The shelter serves as a prototype for additional structures to be produced in 2026-27 with READI 2.0 Arts & Culture Initiative funds.

Tending the garden together

In its shift from synthetic to natural dyes, the Eskenazi School's Fibers area has been increasingly relying on plants grown at IU's Hilltop Garden and Nature Center. Color Field is an annual and perennial natural dye garden that serves as a source of colors for class projects and community use. Plants including madder, indigo, weld, and marigold are cultivated there to reconnect students, faculty and community members with the roots of color through direct investment in the production of natural dyes. Color Field is operated by Hilltop with help from Fibers area faculty, students, and community volunteers.

Fostering empathy along the supply chain

As part of Hilos de Amistad/Threads of Friendship, Merchandising students connected with their counterparts at the Catholic University of El Salvador to create a sustainable supply chain benefitting residents of a nursing home there. Eskenazi students collected, documented, measured, and shipped second-hand linens to El Salvador to be upcycled into bedding. Through the experiential learning project students gained first-hand knowledge of product circularity and gained empathy for those on the other side of the global supply chain.

Bringing out what's special

Through the Rural Placemaking Studio, Eskenazi School students partner with residents and community leaders in towns across southern Indiana to develop design concepts to amplify the elements that make those towns special.

With IU's Center for Rural Engagement serving as a liaison, students are matched to projects in communities seeking to enhance residents' sense of and pride in their collective identity, drive tourism, and boost economic development. Students research a town's history, make site visits, and interview local stakeholders to ascertain how best to tell a place's story through design elements, including wayfinding, pocket parks, murals, and other public improvements.

 

Engage with the global community

Beyond Indiana, Eskenazi students can engage and collaborate around the world. With many overseas study programs, the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design offers students many opportunities to engage in research, creative activity, and conversations on a global scale.

Explore overseas summer programs