Peter and Ursula Megert hold up themed T-shirts at a party in May 2012 to celebrate their retirement from teaching. Credit: Courtesy of Diane Kollman
Ohio State’s Hopkins Hall Gallery will remember a beloved arts faculty member, Peter Megert, with an upcoming exhibition showcasing work from throughout his career.
The exhibition, which opens Monday and will be on display through Nov. 8, will host a reception and celebration in honor of Megert’s career — including the years during which he served as a design educator and visual communications designer at Ohio State from 1970-1985 — which will take place Oct. 19 in the gallery from 1-5 p.m.
According to the Buckeye Funder website, the university is also raising money for The Peter Megert Design Fund to support the exhibition and award student scholarships in Megert’s name. The fundraiser has a goal of $50,000 — of which it has currently raised $15,880 — and will conclude Dec. 31.
Axel Roesler, an Ohio State alum and a professor in the Department of Human-Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington, said Megert, who was born in Switzerland and later moved to the United States, was the anchor that brought Ohio State faculty in the visual design program together. Although he died in 2022, he left behind fond memories in the minds of those he worked with, particularly among his students.
“He just wanted to teach,” Roesler said. “He was so good. Every year he taught one, two or three classes in visual design.”
Paul Nini, an Ohio State professor in the Department of Design, said Megert was known for using Swiss styles early in his career during the 1960s — something that was revolutionary in the United States at the time. He said Megert even won the Swiss Poster Award for Swiss Poster of the Year — the “most significant poster award in Switzerland,” according to the competition’s website — twice throughout the ‘60s.
“He was one of the pioneers of visual communication design. He was really the first person who brought in that systematic Swiss design approach,” Nini said. “It was very simple, straightforward and direct in its visual approach.”
Nini said the memorial exhibition was created with the help of several of Megert’s friends and colleagues. He said the exhibition will also include works from his wife, ceramics artist Ursula Megert.
“It’s really about celebrating their legacy and their importance to our design department and community,” Nini said.
Nini said the exhibition will also highlight work from Peter Megert’s former students’ past assignments and projects, as well as work from his retirement.
“We’ve seen a lot of work we didn’t realize he had done. He wasn’t the biggest self-promoter in the world,” Nini said. “It’s really nice to be able to have some of his stuff being seen so that it is more widely known.”
Roesler said Peter Megert wasn’t one to act selfishly. In fact, he almost never highlighted his own work, offering opportunities for his students to steal the show.
“He wasn’t one of those people to talk about himself,” Roesler said. “I think that’s why all his friends and colleagues pulled together this exhibition, to give him that visibility because he didn’t do that for himself.”
Both Roesler and Nini expressed their excitement to see Peter Megert’s friends, family, colleagues and previous students come together to celebrate his life and work.
“Everybody’s deeply indebted to him because he did things in such a generous and humble way,” Roesler said. “Everyone will come together for the reception — just the sheer amount of friends Peter and Ursula [Megert] had over the years and would always come back and visit.”
Roesler said Peter Megert’s good humor and curiosity was something he highlighted in his art up until the very end of his life.
“He was a wave of fresh air, of joy, of humor,” Roesler said. “[Peter Megert] would never follow the mainstream. He would always do what he believed in, and I think that was really important for us, as students and colleagues, to see.”
For more information about Peter Megert himself and about the exhibition, visit the Ohio State Department of Design’s website.
