Art Professor David Klahn Dies
ATHENS, Ohio (February 26, 2001) -- David Klahn, professor of sculpture in the School of Art at Ohio University, died Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the age of 58.
A native of La Crosse, WI, he earned a baccalaureate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1964 and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1966. He served in the U.S. Army Embassy Corps from 1966 to 1968 in Ethiopia, where he received an honorary doctorate from Haile Selassise I University in Addis Ababa.
Klahn joined the Ohio University faculty in 1969. He was named chair of the sculpture department in 1970 and served as acting director of the School of Art in 1976. He enjoyed alternating teaching with administrative work and served as associate dean of the College of Fine Arts in for two years and latter, on several occasions as associate director of the School of Art.
David maintained a private sculpture studio and foundry in Athens for a number of years. His assistants there for many years were Dennis Senn and Christine Smith. He created many public sculpture commissions and collaborated with other artists, most notably with the artist George Segal. Pieces with Segal include the Kent State Memorial, permanently installed on the Princeton University campus, Princeton, N.J., Youngstown Steel Memorial installed at the Youngstown Labor and Industry Museum, Youngstown, Ohio, and Restaurants at the Federal Office Building in Buffalo, N.Y.
Klahn's own work included a diversity of projects from large-scale outdoor work to gallery bronzes. He received a National Endowment grant to create the multi-media sculpture Matrix at St. Francis Medical Complex in La Crosse, WI. He also designed a large body of work for the Nashville Network in Nashville, TN. David produced the Ohio University Mace and the Presidential Medal of Office Ceremonial Chain and Medallions for Ohio University.
"David consistently received exemplary teaching evaluations in the School of Art. I'm confident I'm speaking for the entire art community in saying that his students loved him and he earned the highest respect from all that knew him because of his knowledge, integrity, and generosity, and his wonderful dry wit," said Power Boothe, director of the School of Art. "David Klahn was an artist, teacher and a leader, who was a reference point for what a caring, purposeful, and engaged life can be. He is deeply missed by all of us."
He is survived by his wife, Faye Klahn, mother Lucille Morelli Klahn and father Carl Klahn and his brother and sister, Larry Klahn and Trudy Klahn Mendez.
