Curtis Goldstein Obituary

Curtis Wade Morrison Goldstein, 58, of Columbus, Ohio, passed away on June 7, 2025, after a long illness.

Born on October 27, 1966, in Columbus, Curtis was a lifelong artist. From a young age, he immersed himself in drawing and painting, taking weekend classes at the Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD). Post high school Curtis was awarded a scholarship to attend the CCAD where he completed two years, before transferring to The Ohio State University, earning his BFA in 1990. In 2013, he received his MFA from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.

Curtis was an independent visual artist whose creative practice spanned painting, drawing, collage, murals, sculpture, installation, set design, interior design, and public art. His art has been shown in numerous exhibitions, including What Time is This Place? at Ohio State University’s Urban Arts Space (2008); several Ohio Art League’s Juried Exhibitions; Flow at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center in Cincinnati (2013); Work/Surface, with his collaborator Matt Lynch, at the Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery in Cincinnati (2018); and at Galleri Heike Arndt’s Fresh Legs (2022) in Berlin, Germany, and Scout (2023) in Denmark. His work was also featured in solo exhibitions at Art Access Gallery (Bexley), Ohio Dominican University (Columbus, OH), and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Columbus (Columbus, OH).

As a muralist, Curtis left a lasting mark across Ohio and beyond. Notable works include The Cliff Dwellers (Columbus, OH, 2003), Promenade (Canal Street, Newark, OH), and Facing Future (Newark, OH, 2022). He completed dozens of community-engaged mural projects in Columbus, Reynoldsburg, Marysville, Newark, Youngstown, Albany and elsewhere—always working closely with the community to tell their stories visually. His longstanding partnership with the JCC in Columbus resulted in several public murals and a deeply personal series of memory drawings.

Since 2015, Curtis has been collaborating with Matt Lynch (University of Cincinnati) on several innovative collage projects. Among them are large-scale, laser-cut Formica laminate mosaics that examine labor history, industrial iconography, and material culture (Work/Surface). In May of this year, they completed an Adhesive Vinyl Collage on display at the Welcoming Center of the Cincinnati Airport.

Curtis’ artwork is held in numerous permanent collections, including the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Cincinnati Museum Center, the University of Cincinnati, the Columbus Convention Center, and the OSU James Comprehensive Cancer Center, and received grants from the Ohio Arts Council and the Greater Columbus Arts Council.

Curtis was also a beloved father, husband, brother, uncle, and friend. He is survived by his sons, Lucian Jacob Goldstein, from his first marriage, and his family, and second son Aki Gustav Mergenthaler-Goldstein, and his spouse and partner of 15 years, May Mergenthaler. He is also mourned by his older sister Rhonda Cahn (née Goldstein), his twin sister Marla Corburn (née Goldstein), and their families, along with many relatives, colleagues, and dear friends, near and far. He was preceded in death by his parents, Sandra Goldstein (née Kahn) and Richard Goldstein.

Those who knew Curtis remember his fierce intellect, irreverent humor, compassion, insight into and worries about national and international politics, his love for tasty and beautiful things, and his deep desire to connect people through art. He has left many projects behind unfinished and many more planned. Curtis often expressed sadness that he would not live to see his sons graduate from high school and college, a loss felt deeply by all who loved him.

A private celebration of life will take place on November 2, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio.

In Curtis’s memory, donations may be made to the Greater Columbus Arts Council: https://www.gcac.org/donation….

Photo credits: Juliane Kopelent; Licking County Library

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