After a national search, the School of Art is thrilled to announce the appointment of Jillian Sokso as its new director. Sokso comes to us from George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, where she served as the director of the School of Communication and Design and professor of art and design.
"We are delighted to welcome Jillian Sokso to Kent State as the new director of the School of Art," said Diane Petrella, dean of the College of the Arts. "Jillian brings a variety of expertise to her new role, including an impressive acumen in her field of printmaking and a wealth of knowledge gained during her years as an educator, a leader and an administrator."
Originally from Philadelphia, Sokso studied printmaking at Moore College of Art and Design, where she earned her B.F.A., and she subsequently earned her M.F.A. from the University of Delaware. She has exhibited nationally and internationally since 2004 and her work is included in many collections, public and private.
“It is an honor and privilege to be joining the incredible group of faculty, staff, students and alumni in the School of Art,” said Sokso. “I look forward to working with the community to build on the rich legacy of the arts at Kent State.”
An artist active in her field, Sokso has recently shown her work in the following exhibitions: "In the Shadow of the Mountain; As if the Sea Were Nothing," Reynolds Gallery, Stockton California; "Grafting Ammunition," Painted Bride Arts Center, Philadelphia; "Meditation Milestones," The Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg, Oregon; and "The Other: Nurturing a New Ecology in Printmaking," Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, Florida.
Sokso is a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts strategic opportunity stipend grant and has been an artist in residence at The Virginia Center for Creative Arts, The Women’s Studio Workshop and the Contemporary Arts Center at Woodside. She previously held the position of chair of Art and Design at George Fox before beginning her role as director in 2020. From 2005 to 2014, she was a faculty member and department chair in the Art Department at Houghton College in Houghton, New York.
Sokso will join Kent State on July 1, 2022.