Denny Griffith, a longtime president of the Columbus College of Art and Design, was remembered Monday as a visionary who united Columbus' arts scene with its economy and made both better.

Denny Griffith, a longtime president of the Columbus College of Art and Design, was remembered Monday as a visionary who united Columbus' arts scene with its economy and made both better.



Friends found it fitting that Griffith, who died of cancer early Monday, spent his last year and a half painting, and his final days sharing that work with the community.



Griffith, 63, succumbed to cancer just eight days after his exhibition, "Another World," opened at CCAD's Beeler Gallery. A concurrent show, "Another World and Other Works," is on display at the Hammond Harkins Gallery on High Street in the Short North.

Columbus Monthly |Denny Griffith's other world



Griffith was known for keeping up his artistic work throughout his 16 years at the head of CCAD. But Ric Petry, a close friend and professor of photography at the school, says "Another World" is special. Featuring amorphous shapes Griffith called "amoebas," it has been described as "boldly erotic," "oddly biological" and cartoonish.



"It's arguably the best work of his career," said Petry. "It's more energetic, more playful and engaged."



Griffith's administrative work at CCAD also left a significant legacy. Most visibly, he commissioned and pushed for the installation of the 10-story-high sculpture of the word ART that stands at Cleveland Avenue and Gay Street.



Columbus Foundation Executive Director Doug Kridler recalled Griffith joking to him about the sign: "I thought they were going to fire me, but it turned out to be iconic."



Griffith had a gift for connecting art and commerce, said James Kunk, president of Huntington Bank's Central Ohio region and chairman of the CCAD board. He made business leaders more likely to support the arts, Kunk said.



"He helped me understand that art and design create culture, and culture makes your city."



Conversely, Griffith made the school's design program more prominent, highlighting the value of skilled design to businesses. He pushed for more business training in the CCAD curriculum and urged students to consider ways to make a living through art and design.



During his tenure, the CCAD campus doubled in size, with development of the Louann Crane Center for Design, the Design Studios on Broad and the Design Square Apartments, which added more than 200 student residences.



Heather Lynn Kyle, a 2008 CCAD graduate who is marketing director for the Gateway Film Center and a painter, said Griffith's encouragement kept her from changing schools. Later she studied with him one on one.



"I went in wanting to learn about painting, but it was really about learning from Denny," Kyle said. "He taught me a lot about relationships and working with people."



Griffith is survived by his wife, Beth Fisher; his son, Blake Fisher; his mother, Sally Griffith; his brother, Tom Griffith; and his sister, Anne Barrus.



