Alumni duo, President Griffith set to jury art competition for popular athletic festival

Husband-and-wife design team Kevin Buckland (CCAD 1992) and Pertain Gillespie (1981) helped select the more than 50 artists for the second annual "Art at the Arnold" competition. During the March Arnold Sports Festival, CCAD President Denny Griffith will select the competition’s first, second, and third place winners.

Held March 4-6, the competition asks artists to create an original artwork inspired by the festival’s athletes during a two day studio session. On the final day of the event, President Griffith will select the winners. The event’s namesake, Arnold Schwarzenegger, will also honor his personal favorite with the Arnold’s Choice award.

Buckland and Gillespie worked with the Arnold Sports Festival for 11 years before launching the art competition in 2010. In a Columbus City Scene Magazine article, the pair said they launched the competition to help the festival make an investment in “the beauty of the physical form from an artist’s perspective.”

Buckland and Gillespie own Buckland Gillespie Design, specializing in design work for corporate clients and the publishing and entertainment industry. Learn more on their website.

The Arnold Sports Festival is the largest multi-sport event in the nation, boasting more than 170,000 attendants. The event runs March 3-6 at numerous Columbus venues. For more information, click here.