Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) has named curator and arts administrator Kyle Herrington Director of Beeler Gallery, the college’s 6,000-square-foot contemporary art gallery. Herrington brings more than 15 years of experience organizing exhibitions and public programs that champion emerging and mid-career artists, particularly those working within marginalized and underrepresented practices. Herrington succeeds longtime CCAD faculty member and Beeler Gallery Director Tim Rietenbach, who retired in July.
Joining CCAD at the start of the 2026–27 academic year, Herrington envisions Beeler Gallery as both a destination for contemporary art and a bridge between the college and the wider Columbus community. His curatorial approach emphasizes collaboration and accessibility, creating multiple entry points for students, artists, longtime arts audiences, and those who may be less familiar with contemporary art.
“I look at my work as a curator as an advocate, as a translator, as a bridge, as a facilitator,” Herrington said. “I want to honor the different types of audiences that we have—and think about the audiences we don’t have yet. Exhibitions and contemporary art can be scholarly, but also accessible at the same time."
For Herrington, joining CCAD also marks an intentional return to the Midwest. After considering opportunities across the country, he was drawn to Columbus as a growing center for arts and culture and found strong alignment between his own values and CCAD and Beeler Gallery’s commitment to collaboration, accessibility, and community engagement.
“Kyle brings to CCAD an impressive depth of curatorial experience along with a genuine commitment to building connections through art,” said Julie Taggart, Provost of Columbus College of Art & Design. “His belief that a gallery can be simultaneously rigorous, welcoming, and responsive to its community makes him an exciting leader for Beeler. We look forward to seeing how he builds on the gallery’s strengths while creating new opportunities for our students, alumni, artists, and audiences throughout Columbus."
Herrington has worked across nearly every facet of the arts as an artist, educator, curator, fundraiser, and administrator. He spent 11 years at the Indianapolis Art Center, where he rose to become Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Events, and most recently worked as an independent curator based in Philadelphia. In 2023, he served as Curator-in-Residence at Fire Island Artist Residency, where he now serves on the Board of Directors. His 2025 project, Crossroads: A Convening of Queer Midwest Curators, received support from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation. He has organized more than 100 exhibitions throughout his career and holds an MA in Curatorial Studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.
At CCAD, Herrington will lead a gallery that brings national and international artists into conversation with work from CCAD students, faculty, and alumni. Free and open to the public, Beeler Gallery presents contemporary and experimental art and design while also serving as a hands-on learning environment where students gain real-world experience with exhibitions and gallery practice.
“The gallery is a real-world application of what happens once students leave CCAD,” Herrington said. “But I don’t want the gallery to be just a static space. I want it to be a catalyst for dialogue—an even flow and exchange of community, contemporary art, and engagement.”
Herrington begins the academic year overseeing the installation and presentation of Haunting, Beeler Gallery’s first exhibition of the 2026–27 season. On view Sept. 3–Nov. 7, 2026, the exhibition brings together seven artists working across photography, sculpture, and process-based image-making to explore time as a haunting force. An opening reception and artist programming will give Columbus audiences an opportunity to experience Beeler’s new season and meet Herrington in his new role.
About Columbus College of Art & Design
Columbus College of Art & Design teaches undergraduate and graduate students in the midst of a thriving creative community in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1879, CCAD is one of the oldest private, nonprofit art and design colleges in the United States. CCAD offers nine BFA programs and a Master of Professional Studies in User Experience Design that produce graduates equipped to shape culture and business at the highest level. Additionally, CCAD offers year-round community art classes for children and adults of all ages, led by local creators and designers skilled in their craft. For more information, visit ccad.edu.
About Beeler Gallery
Beeler Gallery at Columbus College of Art & Design welcomes visitors to its 6,000-square-foot exhibition space and 99-seat screening room to experience exhibitions organized by emerging curators as well as the CCAD students and faculty. Led by Director of Galleries Kyle Herrington, Beeler Gallery provides cultural and artistic opportunities to the CCAD community and central Ohio and brings a span of contemporary and experimental art and design exhibitions to CCAD’s campus, whose charge is to challenge the assumptions about who—and what—belongs in a gallery. Beeler Gallery is located on the first floor of the Joseph V. Canzani Center at 60 Cleveland Ave. in Columbus, Ohio. The gallery is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday–Saturday. Parking is free. To learn more, visit our Campus Galleries page.
