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Merijn van der Heijden named director of Urban Arts Space

June 26, 2018

Merijn van der Heijden named director of Urban Arts Space

Merijn

Merijn van der Heijden has been named director of Ohio State’s Urban Arts Space. Van der Heijden has an extensive background in the arts and has served as Urban Arts Space’s interim director since September. She joined Ohio State in 2004 and has served as deputy director of exhibitions and curatorial practice at Urban Arts Space and the Arts Initiative and as assistant dean and director of the Arts and Sciences Honors Program within the college.

“I am thrilled and honored to serve as the director of Urban Arts Space,” says van der Heijden. “It is a wonderful opportunity to build an ambitious and vital programming and exhibition slate that provides meaningful, direct engagement with not only the university, but the community as a whole.”

As director, she will continue to organize, curate and oversee exhibitions and programming at Urban Arts Space and Hopkins Hall Gallery; establish lasting and impactful community and campus partnerships that enrich both Ohio State and the Columbus area; and work closely with artists, students, faculty and staff to advance the university and college’s mission.

Van der Heijden grew up in the Netherlands, earning her BFA in sculpture and textiles from the Academy of Fine Arts and Art Education in Tilburg. She received her MFA degree with a distinction in media arts from Ohio State, and was awarded a national MFA juried award, resulting in a solo exhibition in New York. In addition to exhibiting her own work across the U.S. and the Netherlands, she has served as director of the Denison University Art Gallery and as an assistant professor in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Florida.

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