Wade Johnston

I have been drawn to art my entire life. Some of my earliest memories are those spent on the living room floor drawing for hours on end or painting with watercolor paints in my mother’s studio. Yes she was an artist and always encouraged me to follow my passions in art, graphic design, photography, sculpture and other creative endeavors.

I have been working professionally for more than 40 years in the graphic design industry, but art has always been my first love. Actually, that is a falsehood. Anything visually creative has always been my first love. Even during a three year attempt at becoming a mechanical engineer I was constantly painting, drawing, photographing, documenting.

In the early 1980’s I thought I wanted to become an engineer and embarked on a four year degree program only to realize at one semester shy of graduating it wasn’t for me. Oh the folly of youth. In 1986 I dropped out of college and took two years off, spending time on the west coast, traveling, creating and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

Since I was sixteen years old I had been working in the graphic design industry doing everything from paste up to stat camera operations. I had a talent for layout, typography, color, and illust...

University of Kansas - Bachelor of Arts
Pratt Institute - Masters Design Communications
The School of Life

Open Studios Hobbs Building 1996
Wiedeman Gallery 1998
Soapbox Gallery 2000
Wiedeman Gallery 2001
Hobbs Building 2002
KCK Library 2004