DENNISON W. GRIFFITH
26 Eastmoor Blvd. Columbus, Ohio 43209
614.222.3220 (w)
dgriffith@ccad.edu www.ccad.edu
BIRTHDATE
1952, Delaware, Ohio
EDUCATION
The Getty Leadership Institute for Museum Management, Berkeley, CA, 1996
Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 1994
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Ohio Wesleyan University, 1974
Great Lakes Colleges Assn., New York Arts Program, 1973
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
COLUMBUS COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN
President - 1998 – present, Columbus, OH
Serve as the chief executive officer of the College. CCAD is a four-year accredited undergraduate institution with an enrollment of 1350 students seeking Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in illustration, fine arts, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, fashion design, photography, animation and media studies. Added an MFA program, “New Projects” in 2010.
COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART
Deputy Director, December 1995 - March 1998, Columbus, OH
Provided programmatic and administrative oversight and coordination between all museum departments, with emphasis on curatorial, education, and external affairs.
Director of External Affairs 1994 -1995
Responsibilities included public relations and marketing, development and execution of print and broadcast communication, press relations, media sponsorships, volunteer relations.
Assistant Director for Programs and Planning 1992 - 1994
Provided programmatic coordination between director’s office, curatorial and education departments and direct oversight for Security and Buildings & Grounds departments.
Assistant to the Director for Administration and External Affairs 1989 - 1992
Responsibilities included management of special projects and initiatives such as coordination of a $1.5 million building refurbishment/reinstallation effort. Served as community liaison and staff coordinator for minority affairs and outreach initiatives through its African American Cultural Committee.
Special Assistant to the Director 1988-1989
Provided administrative coordination for a comprehensive facility assessment and site study analysis in anticipation of possible relocation of the museum to an alternative downtown site.
OHIO FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS
Executive Director - 1983 – 1988, Columbus, OH
Administered the programs of a multi-state visual arts services organization, which published Dialogue, An Art Journal and provided services to the field including interstate arts shipping and handling (Fine Arts Transportation Service) and regional exhibition circulation to member organizations (Touring Exhibitions Program).
OHIO ARTS COUNCIL
Individual Artists Program Coordinator 1979-1983, Columbus, OH
Refined and implemented policies and funding procedures for what was the nation’s second-largest state-run program of direct artists’ fellowship awards.
Visual Arts Program Coordinator 1978-1979
Oversaw the administration of project and operating support grants to visual arts organizations statewide. Also coordinated grants administration in the Design Arts funding category during this period.
PORTSMOUTH CITY SCHOOL SYSTEM
Artist in Residence Ohio Arts Council’s Artist-in-Education Program 1976 – 1978, Portsmouth, OH
Developed in-school, hands-on art projects including temporary and permanent murals and sculpture installations in various school and community settings working primarily with middle school and high school students.
VOLAIR GALLERY
Gallery Director- 1975-6, Peninsula, OH
Managed a for-profit gallery associated with a publishing house for limited edition graphics and sculpture.
AKRON ART MUSEUM
Assistant to Director of Education- 1974-1975, Akron, OH
Managed and implemented public education programs for adults and children; assisted with docent training and recruitment; assisted with development and installation of Education Gallery exhibitions.
Project Director, “Great Constructions” (Summers) – 1974, 1975
Designed, managed, and constructed two permanent playground sculptures on an inner-city park, working with at-risk children to co-design and produce the final installations.
RELATED PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND APPOINTMENTS
Grant Making Panels
Ohio Arts Council, Visual Arts and Crafts Panel, 1990-92; 1995-97
Ohio Arts Council, Design Arts Panel, 1997
Ohio Arts Council, Art in Public Places Panel, 1996, 1997
NOVA, Artists’ Projects Panel, Cleveland, OH, 1995
National Endowment for the Arts, Site Visitor - Visual Arts Program, 1983-85; 1989, 1990
Cincinnati Summerfair, Artists’ Fellowships Panel, 1983, 1988, 1990
National Endowment for the Arts/Rockefeller Foundation, Initiative for Interdisciplinary Artists Program, 1987, 1988
Illinois Arts Council, Visual Artists Fellowships Panel, 1988
National Endowment for the Arts, Interarts Program Panel, 1987, 1988
National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Artists Organizations Panel, 1984, 1985
Jury/Exhibition Selection Committees
Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, OH, 2005
Images Festival of the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL, 1992, 1997, 2004
Greater Columbus Arts Festival, Columbus, OH, 1986, 1998
Winter Park Art Festival, Winter Park, FL, 1998
Greater Gulfcoast Art Festival, Pensacola, FL 1998
Dayton Visual Arts Center/Taos, New Mexico Exchange Exhibition, 1995
Lake Mary Heathrow Festival of the Arts, Orlando, FL, 1993
Riffe Gallery, Riffe Center for Government. and the Arts, Columbus, OH 1992
Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival, Westmoreland, PA, 1991
Toledo Museum of Art, 71st Annual Exhibition, Toledo, OH, 1989
Huntington Museum of Art, 280 Exhibition, Huntington, WVA, 1989
Crosby Gardens Arts Festival; Toledo, OH, 1987
Salt Fork Arts and Crafts Festival; Cambridge, OH, 1987
Oglebay Institute, Wheeling, WVA, 1985
Dairy Barn Cultural Center, Athens, OH 1984
Ohio State University, Undergraduate Exhibition, Columbus, OH, 1984
Kent State University, Student Exhibition, Kent, OH, 1983
Curatorial Work
Bold Strokes: Outsiders on the Inside, Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, OH, 1999
The Spirit of Cleveland: Visual Arts Recipients of the Cleveland Arts Prize 1961 - 1995, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH; Tour: The Canton Art Museum, Canton, OH; The Riffe Gallery/Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, Columbus, OH; Artspace/Lima, Lima, OH; The Beck Center for Cultural Arts, Lakewood, OH, 1996
Managing curator and project director for Landscape as Metaphor: Visions of America in the Late Twentieth Century, Columbus Museum of Art (Organized by Martin Friedman), 1995
Pages in History: The Art of Aminah Robinson, Columbus Museum of Art, 1990
Artists After Hours, Riffe Gallery, Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, Columbus, 1990
Drawn on the Wall, Tangeman Gallery, University of Cincinnati, 1987
Drawn from the Hand/Drawn from the Heart, Lima Art Association, Lima, OH, 1986
Words/Images, Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, Oberlin, OH, 1984
Gund Gallery at the Ohio Arts Council, 4 exhibitions of artist fellowship recipients’ work per year, 1982, 1983
Art In Public Places Selection Committees
Franklin County Courthouse, Columbus, OH 2010
State of Ohio, Supreme Court Building, Columbus, OH, 2003
Rickenbacker Airport, Columbus, OH, 2001
City of Dublin, OH, Sherex Park, 1993
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH, 1990
Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, OH, 1988
On Common Ground, Ohio Arts Council/1984 Governor’s Award for the Arts Sculpture Commission, Cleveland, OH, 1984
Published Work
Gumbo YaYa: Anthology of Contemporary African-American Women Artists, Midmarch Arts Press, 1995
The Art of Shirley Aley Campbell, Ohio Artists Now/Cleveland Artists Foundation, 1991
Jump Hope, Collaborative Artists’ Book with writer George Myers, Jr.; Cumberland Press, 1991
Board Service
Present:
The Columbus Partnership
National Association of Schools of Art and Design
Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design
Experience Columbus (convention & visitors’ bureau)
Columbus Chamber of Commerce
Past:
I Know I Can Board of Directors
Board of Governors, Capital Club, Columbus, OH
Ohio Citizens for the Arts
Central Ohio Workforce Investment Corporation, Board of Directors
Ross Art Museum Board of Advisors
Higher Education Council of Columbus
Discovery District Development Corporation
St. Joseph Montessori School
SUMMARY OF ART PRACTICE
In addition to the professional activities outlined above, I have maintained a vigorous career as a visual artist.
Grants/ Fellowships
Artist’s Project Grant Award, Ohio Arts Council, 1997
Greater Columbus Arts Council Fellowship – painting, 1996
Edith Fergus Gilmore Memorial Fellowship - painting, The Ohio State University, 1993
Arts Midwest/National Endowment for the Arts Regional Visual Arts Fellowship - painting, 1991
Ohio Arts Council, Publication Support for collaborative artists’ book project with writer George Myers. Jr., for Jump Hope, 1991
Greater Columbus Arts Council - publication support for Jump Hope, 1991
Ohio Arts Council, Individual Artist Fellowship – painting, 1990
Ohio Arts Council, Individual Artist Fellowship – painting, 1988
Solo Exhibitions
Hammond Harkins Gallery, Bexley, OH, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009
Josephinum, Worthington, OH, 2000
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, 1998
Otterbein College, Westerville, OH, 1996
Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH, 1993
Toni Birckhead Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, 1989
Indiana University, Indiana, PA, 1989
Zanesville Art Center, Zanesville, OH, 1988
Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH, 1980, 1987
Belmont Gallery, Columbus, OH, 1985
Denison University, Granville, OH, 1984
John Davis Gallery, Akron, OH, 1983
Artreach Gallery, Columbus, OH, 1980
Group Exhibitions
Studio Art Centers International, Florence, Italy, CCAD Faculty Exhibition, 2006
Canzani Center Gallery, CCAD, Faculty Biennial, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006
Hammond Harkins Gallery, Bexley, OH, Dennison W. Griffith & James Mason, 2000
Romancing the Image: Recent Work by Ric Petry and Dennison W. Griffith; Ohio Wesleyan University, 1998;
Depauw University, 1999
Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY, Small Works Invitational, 1996
Hammond Gallery, Lancaster, OH Painting & Sculpture by Ohio Artists, 1995
Southern Ohio Museum, Portsmouth, OH, Sleight of Hand, 1995
Arts Initiatives at the New York School of Law, New York, NY, Self Portraits I, 1994
Capital University, Schumacher Gallery, Columbus, OH Dennison W. Griffith & Elizabeth Fergus-Jean,1994
Art in General, New York, NY, Good and Plenty,1993
Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, OH, Site/Insight, 1993
University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, OH, Denny Griffith and John Kortlander, 1993
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, Made in Ohio, 1992
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, Ohio, U.S.A., 1991
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Collects: Painting, Sculpture, and Photography, 1988
Richmond Art Association, Richmond, IN, John L. Moore & Denny Griffith, 1987
Tartt Gallery, Washington, D.C., Gallery Artists, 1986
Emily Davis Gallery, University of Akron, Two Painters, 1985
Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL, Summer Show, 1985
SPACES, Cleveland, OH , 1985
Patrick King Contemporary Art, Indianapolis, IN, Denny Griffith and Joni Heide, 1984
Columbus Museum of Art, 74th Annual Art League Show, 1984
Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH, Ohio Selections, 1993
SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 1983
Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH Dynamix 1982
Artpark, Lewiston, NY 1982
Michigan ArtTrain, Detroit, MI. The American Tradition (5-state tour) 1981
Dollhouse Invitational Retrospective (traveled nationally) 1980
Public & Corporate Collections
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH; BP, Cleveland, OH; JP Morgan Chase, NY; Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland, OH; Columbus Museum of Art; Columbus Metropolitan Library; Federal Reserve Bank, Cleveland; Huntington National Bank, Columbus, OH; PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Columbus, OH; Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH; Pizzuti, Inc., Columbus, OH; Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, OH; Ohio Supreme Court Building, Columbus, OH