Nathan Opp has been recognized by many national and regional arts groups for the promise and excellence of his creative works. His has received a scholarship from the Peter and Marsha Plotkin Memorial Foundation and a fellowship award from the Oklahoma Visual Art Coalition.
Nathan Opp is a unique blend of artist and art historian. His advanced studies in each discipline permeate his courses with the best of both worlds. Opp brings the authority of historical understanding into the studio environment and the science and practice of a seasoned artist into the academic space of art history.
Nathan Opp came to ORU in 1999, after his studies at Pratt Institute. Starting as an adjunct faculty member, Opp quickly became a full-time faculty member in 2000 and also participated in the formation of ORU’s Honors Program. He now serves as director of the Honors program at ORU. He teaches a variety of undergraduate courses in fine art and art history, such as Drawing, Painting, Art History Surveys and an Honors interdisciplinary seminar called Artistic Expression. In 2008, Opp received ORU’s Scholar of the Year, and in 2011 he was awarded the Honors Program Faculty Member of the Year.
Students often remark on Nathan Opp’s approachable nature and overwhelming understanding of art. He finds the classroom to be a special space to guide the development of knowledge and the formation of artistic habits. Opp works to demystify art and empower students to claim the field and fulfill their mission.
Opp is a painter whose work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States, including the Eleanor Kirkpatrick Gallery, Oklahoma; the Springfield Art Museum, Missouri; and the Biola University Art Gallery, California. His work is as varied as his background, yet the unifying thread is his celebration of the physical reality and uniqueness of our existence.
Nathan Opp earned his B.S. in Painting and Drawing from Biola University in La Mirada, California, his M.S. in Art History from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and his M.F.A in Painting from the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma.