It is with great sadness that the OCAD University community mourns the passing of David Hunt on May 8, 2026, at the age of 83. Hunt was an alum of the Ontario College of Art (before it became OCAD U) and an associate professor who joined the University in 1969 and retired in 2008.
He was also the Head of OCAD U’s Metal Studio, an exceptional craftsperson, blacksmith, cabinet maker and consummate problem solver to many artists and designers and hundreds of students.
“It’s difficult to summarize David’s positive impact at OCAD U because it was so far reaching,” recalls former colleague Professor Simone Jones. “David’s kind spirit, expert skill and boundless generosity formed the emotional core of the metal shop. Anyone who entered the metal shop had the pleasure of meeting David. Countless OCAD U students have benefitted from his guidance, and it is a testament to his impact that so many of our faculty and alumni can speak about their memories of David with joy, reverence and respect. David was ‘one of the good ones.’ The OCAD U community is so lucky that he spent his career with us.”
Associate Professor Francis LeBouthillier says “David was an impeccable mechanical problem solver. Give him a fabrication challenge and he would come up with an elegant and well-thought-out solution. He was a magician of mechanics!”
“David always cared for the success of his students. He encouraged his students to achieve excellence and make things well. I learned a great deal about metal fabrication from David. I'm grateful for the support and trust he provided that enabled me to build my confidence and skills in working with metal. He helped me to be able to build a skill set that prepared me to eventually teach metal fabrication at OCAD U alongside him. He will be missed!” says LeBouthillier.
Hunt and his wife Wendy were among the first people that Associate Professor Emeritus Ken Vickerson met in Toronto when he was an art student from Alberta on a field trip in the early 1980s. Little did Vickerson know that he would find himself years later working alongside Hunt for nearly 30 years as a technician in the metal and jewelry areas of what was then known as Technological Studies at the Ontario College of Art.
“I was very green when I started and David was an amazing mentor who I admired greatly. He was warm and funny with an encyclopedic knowledge of metal working. I absorbed as much knowledge and experience as I could and David was always generous with those,” remembers Vickerson. “I learned not just about metalworking but about teaching and the subtleties of mentorship, which I applied when the time came. As a teacher, David was second to none and his patience and nurturing instincts were successful with even some of the most challenging students … I owe him a lot and treasure the friendship we shared as colleagues. He will be missed by many.”
Vickerson recalls that Hunt was a genius in helping to facilitate large steel sculptural installations for artists such as John McEwen (also an artist, alum and former instructor) and Susan Low-Beer. He had a knack and was much in demand in this regard.
McEwen recently established the Hunt and McEwen Sculpture/Installation Award, honouring the long-time relationship between the two instructors. The award recognizes excellence by fourth-year Sculpture/Installation students.
Head Technician in OCAD U’s Metal Shop Josh Avery was a former student of Hunt’s and saw him as one of his “Shop Fathers.”
“It's only in looking back that you realize the importance someone has played in your life. David made a big impact on my life,” recalls Avery. “I hope David would approve of the way I have shepherded the Metal Shop since his retirement. Even though the shop has expanded since his time, I can still see his hands. One specific memory was his laugh. David had a great laugh, and it echoed through the halls of the basement; it was so joyful.”
When Hunt retired, he gave Avery his Kennedy machinist toolbox.
“I still have his tape measure in my toolbox, which sits with my father’s toolbox. There isn't a day that goes by that my hands don’t brush over it,” says Avery.
Hunt is survived by his wife Wendy (nee Cain who taught at OCAD U in Printmaking) and his sister Joanna Morgan of Brisbane, Australia. He is also survived by six nieces and nephews, and six great nieces and nephews.
A service to remember Hunt is being held on Saturday, May 23, 2026, at 11 a.m. at the Newburgh United Church (339 Academy St, Newburgh, Ont.). His family has asked that donations in his memory be made to the Toronto Dementia Research Alliance or Newburgh United Church.
