Russell Merritt-Instructor, Artist and Renaissance Man
By Chris Blankenship



When a student asks themselves what the best qualities are in an instructor, undoubtedly they will come up with things such as caring, interesting and knowledgeable. Those of us enrolled in the DMD program at COTC are lucky to have an instructor who personifies all of these things and more: Russell Merritt. I recently interviewed Russell and three of his former students and found their answers very interesting.

When asked about their first impressions of Russell the student responses ranged from “tough” to “an instructor that really cares about the students”. Darcy Heller responded by saying “My first impression was that he was one of those instructors that genuinely cared for his students. His priorities are not to get through the syllabus, but to get you to the end of the quarter with a complete understanding of the material.”

When I asked Daphne Blankenship what effect Russell has had on her as a student she said “Some instructors can be intimidating to their students but Russell is personable and friendly and when he says he cares how well you do and that he believes in you as a student, you know that he’s sincere.” Nathan Gordon responded to the same question by saying “Russell is by far the most effective professor I’ve had at COTC. His thorough teaching style and keen sense of art make you try your best.”

Darcy, Daphne, and Nathan all expressed that they were sad that they wouldn’t have Russell as an instructor again because they are all going into their senior years and Russell doesn’t teach senior classes. Daphne said, “Russell Merritt is not only an instructor to many of us in the DMD (Digital Media Design) program, he is also a friend and a mentor. Russell also knows everything. I secretly call him ‘Russellpedia’.”

It is very difficult to describe Russell in just a few words, but perhaps his favorite quote sums him up well. “Live like you will die tomorrow and seek knowledge like you will live forever”, a very thought provoking quote from Mahatma Gandhi.

When asked about his childhood, Russell said that he was born in Circleville, Ohio and moved to San Ignacio, Tamaulipas, Mexico before he was one year old. He lived there until he was five because his mother wanted her children educated in the United States. When asked what lead to him becoming an artist he said, “I have drawn since I was 3 years old, but when I was 11 my grandmother died and in her will she left me all of her art supplies. I knew then that I wanted to be an artist.”

One of the most interesting things about Russell are his life experiences. Most people probably don’t do a quarter of what Russell has done in their entire lives. Russell has been an engineman and diver in the Navy, an auto mechanic, and a roadie for several bands. He attended college at Ohio Christian University where he worked summers as a roofer, bricklayer, and a goat farmer.
Russell was a minister with the Free Methodist Church for nine years and was a pastor in Cambridge, Caldwell, and Ava, Ohio. He has been a truck driver, spent a summer helping with Siberian Tigers, worked as a typesetter and computer design worker with Kinko’s, been a shoe repairman, spent five years as a layout and design man for Spencer Walker Press and worked with many types of commercial printing.
Russell has been and still is an art teacher with the Works Museum and with the Greater Columbus Arts Council. During all those years he worked as a freelance cartoonist selling cartoons to TeeVee Magazine, Redbook, Comic Buyers Guide, Eclipse Comics, Cryogenic Press, 5th Panel Comics, and Penny Dreadful Press. That’s quite a resume!
Becoming an instructor at COTC was in Russell’s words “a conjunction of events…the stars must have been in alignment”. He met Kathleen Kinney (another DMD instructor) when he was teaching at The Works and mentioned that he would like to teach at COTC. He had a gallery exhibition at Sean Kinney’s (Kathleen’s husband) business and Bill Sattelmeyer (the head of the DMD program at COTC) came to the show and bought one of his paintings. At the same time Leah Bucovchan, art director at The Works, was teaching drawing for COTC and recommended Russell to Bill as a candidate for teaching since a couple of adjunct instructors working for Bill had left. Russell got an interview and was hired on the spot.
When asked what one piece of advice he had for students thinking of entering the DMD program, Russell had this to say: “There is no more challenging or exciting opportunity than computer design. It requires hard work, self discipline and an open mind. However, if you embark on this path, remember that only your best is good enough. You will have some of the very best teachers with years of real world experience, a love of their job and a real concern for their students. They will give you their very best and will demand the same of you.” I can honestly say that Russell Merritt is one of the reasons that I chose the Digital Media Design program and I hope you can find inspiration from him as well.