Gordon Keith Enterprises, Inc. / Courtesy of Greg Keith
During the 1960s and 70s, an industrial area on the west side of Columbus was home to a huge, 75-foot long Nativity display depicting Mary, Joseph, wise men, camels and a cast of other animal characters. The holiday attraction was staged outside the workshop and retail store of Columbus artist and designer Gordon Keith.
Teri Horning wrote into WOSU’s Curious Cbus to ask, “What happened to the life-sized Nativity that was at Gordon Keith s Barn?”
Gordon Elmer Keith was born in Columbus in 1924 and showed artistic talent from a young age. As a teenager, he served in the Army during World War II, making scale models used to plan military strategy. After the war, he set up his first design studio in Boston before moving back to Central Ohio.