Honors, Awards & Scholarships

Denison offers various scholarships to recognize talented incoming first-year students who have a passion for the arts, including Visual Arts. Awards range from $5,000 up to half tuition, and are renewable for four years—regardless of whether the student decides to major in Visual Arts.

Applicants wishing to be considered for an Arts Scholarship must submit a portfolio by their chosen application deadline. Please visit the Arts Applicants page for details.

The prestigious Mary G. and G. Harold Osborne Endowed Scholarship is awarded annually each spring to a small number of outstanding students majoring in Visual Arts, Cinema, Dance, Music, and/or Theatre. Candidates must be nominated to apply by their major department and must have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA. Following a presentation/audition in the spring, recipients are selected by a faculty committee based on artistic merit, defined as demonstrated evidence of outstanding artistic expression, technique, and awareness.

This endowment was made possible through the generosity of Dr. William N. Osborne (1937-2025), honoring the memory of his parents, who spent many of their last years in Granville. William Osborne came to Denison in 1961 as a faculty member in the Department of Music. Later, he was named Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts, the position he held when he retired in 2003.

Studio Art majors with a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA are eligible for the Vail Award in the Fine Arts, which is awarded annually to outstanding majors and minors in Visual Arts, Art History and Visual Culture, Cinema, Dance, Music, and Theatre. There is no application process.

The Mary K Campbell/Caroline Woodrow Deckman Award in the Fine Arts goes to a student or students who show outstanding creative achievement in studio art. There is no application process.

Lecturer Emerita of Art Mary K Campbell was a student at Denison from 1932 to 1934. In 1956, Mary K’s love for art led her back to Denison where she taught in the Art Department for 22 years. Mary K developed a graphics program at Denison and was well known for her teaching of printmaking and design. She had a great influence on her students, who have gone into architecture, illustration, design, and other allied fields, as well as teaching and curatorships.