Columbus College of Art & Design has never had a mascot — until now.

Thanks to the Student Government Association, we’re now The Owls!

“We felt that if we had this symbol we would be able to stay connected more with the Columbus community and also within the CCAD family,” said Guy Gibboney (Industrial Design, 2018), Student Government Association President.

The search for the mascot started in fall 2016, when the Student Government Association asked the CCAD student body to vote on which animal they’d like to see as our mascot: an owl, a fire ant, a phoenix, or a chameleon. The owls had it.

So, Student Government put out a call for designs from students over winter break. Nineteen students submitted designs, which Student Government whittled down to the top five. Student Government then invited stakeholders throughout campus, including alumni, admitted students, members of BSLA and Queer Alliance, a Columbus Dispatch columnist, and a few folks from Marketing to pick the winner. Sam Pickett (Illustration, 2018) won by a large margin.

“I feel like Sam’s design is something we can all relate to,” Gibboney said. “It embodies the CCAD spirit quite well.”

Pickett is thrilled, too, about her owl named Palette.

“I’m quite excited that my name is going to go down in the books as the person who created our first mascot in over 100 years,” she said.

The CCAD Student Agency is now designing a mascot costume, which will be unveiled in mid-March 2017. And CCAD's new store, Ampersand Emporium, will soon have swag showcasing the owl.

The Columbus Dispatch recently highlighted our new mascot. Read more here.