Public art is one of the most expressive elements of our brand
Northeastern’s public art communicates that we are a living lab for exploration and discovery—showcasing our creative spirit and what makes us human. Our public art is a key part of what makes our campuses unique and visually distinctive.
Marketing teams on campuses with public art installations should feature the works in content whenever appropriate for the audience. Use photos that show the art in its campus setting to highlight your location’s energy and character. Include students, faculty, and staff in these images when you can.
About our Public Art Program
Our vision is to create a campuswide canvas aligned with our ethos as a living lab for exploration and creativity.
Photo Selection
To ease selection and ensure quality, select images from this collection provided by University Marketing.
New art
No new art works, including reproductions of existing works, may be installed on a university campus without prior approval by the Public Art team in University Marketing. The guidelines and policies around proposing new public art works can be found on the Public Art website.
Audiences
Consider audience in selecting art works to highlight. More whimsical pieces may better suit a student or alumni audience, and more refined works may be more appropriate for business and academic audiences.
Photography
When selecting images to use in your marketing content, be certain that photos represent current installations (visit the Artists section of our Public Art website for a listing of what’s current). Favor artistic representations of our art over straight snapshots. If you want to use an image not found in the collection on our digital asset management system, please submit the proposed image(s) to [email protected] for approval.
You are not required to provide an artist attribution when the image is being used for general marketing. Where an attribution is warranted, please use:
“Title of work,” by Name of Artist, Northeastern University, [Location] campus
If you plan to use the image in paid advertising, consult with [email protected] before doing so, so that we can ensure the artist contract allows for the use.
Tours
We encourage you to look for ways to weave in-person public art tours into your campus events, prospective student tours, and VIP visits. Refer to the Public Art website for details about our installations to build your scripts, and select a tour guide who has knowledge about art. For all tours featuring public art at Northeastern, submit the tour script and Google map of the route for review ahead of the event at [email protected] .
Marketing is able to accommodate providing tours on a case-by-case basis. Please submit your request to [email protected] .
Attributions and signage
Signage for permanent art installations is managed through University Marketing. Signage for short-term installations led by faculty can be ordered through Northeastern’s Sign Shop for a fee. Attribution content for all art installations, including faculty-led installations of student and artist-in-residence works, must be submitted for approval by the Public Art team through [email protected] .
Merchandising
You may not use likenesses of the university’s art works for merchandise. Merchandising and licensing collaborations with artists are handled exclusively by University Marketing, which oversees merchandise and licensing for the university enterprise.
