Shared Art is a growing campus tradition rooted in a simple but powerful question: Can a single work of art build community?

Each year, the program invites the incoming first-year class to engage with one artwork selected especially for them. Introduced during orientation and explored throughout the semester in conversations led by Peer Advising Leaders, the chosen work becomes a catalyst for dialogue, reflection, and belonging.

In the spring, a new student committee—nominated from across campus and representing a wide range of majors, interests, and backgrounds—selects the next Shared Art piece. United not by expertise in art history but by a commitment to creative thinking and community building, they consider how a single image might spark meaningful conversations for the class to come.

As we prepare to welcome the Class of 2030 to Oberlin College, the students of this year's committee work to select an artwork that will spark conversation, connection, and belonging among the newest members of our community.