The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
David Griggs
Denver Colorado 80204 United States Home Phone: 303-446-3030 Website: http://artsoup.com
Bio
David Griggs is a Denver-based artist who has completed over 60 commissioned works of art throughout the United States. Primarily a designer of site-integrated Public Art, he has also participated in over a dozen Master Planning and Design Team projects, including the Team for Hope, Arkansas, President Bill Clinton’s birthplace. His work is installation-based, engaging the viewer with visual intimacy and physical interactivity. With a heightened sensitivity to the qualities of a site’s function and history, his work resonates with the character of its site.
Griggs’ work is site-integrated, an approach that utilizes the ability of a site to compliment a work of art both in meaning and in impact. This may include work that is specific to the architecture and other formal elements of the site, or responsive to other factors, whether they are social, cultural, environmental or historical.
At the core of Griggs’ work is a playful regard for formal qualities, an appreciation for functional need, and an awareness of social context. His work embraces the character of a situation and embodies the spirit of a site. While engaging the viewer with physical and formal elements, his work aspires for that act of recognition when truth is found in humor, when identity and meaning are found in metaphor.
Griggs has lived and worked in Denver for over 40 years. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder with a Masters Degree in Fine Arts. He has worked in many capacities in the arts, including gallery manager, museum preparator, and studio artist. For the last 30 years he has been self-employed as a Public Artist, designing and building work for Percent For Art, Public Art, and Private commissions. Recent commissions include projects for Anchorage, Boulder, Canton, Chicago, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Madison, Santa Fe, Sioux Falls, Stockton, Toronto, and Washington. Increasingly he has become involved in projects that require not only designing and building Public Art, but also the planning, strategizing and advocating for Public Art involvement. He was a consultant for the design and integration of artwork into Denver’s Light Rail system for the West Corridor, the first of the “Fastracks” lines to be built. Other consultancy positions have included projects for Denver Housing Authority and for Lowry Redevelopment, integrating artwork into the mixed-use redevelopment of the decommissioned Lowry Air Force Base.
Artist Statement
I am a Public Artist based in Denver, and I’ve completed over 60 commissioned works of art throughout the United States. My work is site-integrated, an approach that utilizes the ability of a site to compliment a work of art both in meaning and in impact. This may include work that is specific to the architecture and other formal elements of the site, or responsive to other factors, whether they are social, cultural, environmental, or historical.
My design process starts with an understanding of the “culture” of the site. I work to sensitize myself to the function of a site and its qualities, i.e., design, scale, pattern, ambiance, and so on. I also try to become aware of aspects that aren’t visually apparent, such as social situations and historical circumstances. I’ve collaborated with many other design professionals. These have been architects, engineers, planners, and fabricators. One example of this is my piece at Denver International Airport (Dual Meridian, 1994). This was a project to design and build a sculptural installation for the Central Core of the International Concourse. With a budget of $465,000, this four-year project was installed during the time that the new airport was being built.
I’ve been fortunate to have experience with 16 Design Team and Master Planning projects. I was on the design team for the renovation of Hope, Arkansas, Bill Clinton’s birthplace. The Public Art in Hope is based on: 1) the history of this small southern town, 2) the railroad as transportation and metaphor, and, 3) The town itself as a metaphor for historic opportunities.
I graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts. For the last 30 years I have been self-employed as a Public Artist, designing and building work for percent-for-art, public art, and private commissions. Recent commissions include projects for Albuquerque, Anchorage, Boulder, Chicago, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Madison, Santa Fe, Stockton, Toronto, and Washington. Most recently I was a consultant for the design and integration of artwork into Denver’s Light Rail system. This includes integrated art for functional elements and station designs of the West Corridor, the first of the “Fastracks” lines to be designed and built. Other consultancy positions have included projects for Denver Housing Authority and for Lowry Redevelopment, integrating artwork into the mixed-use redevelopment of a decommissioned Air Force Base.
