In 1989, artist Merv Corning and his wife, Tula, traveled to Stark County for the opening of “Game Day,” an exhibition of his NFL-themed watercolor paintings at the Canton Museum of Art.

Merv Corning, 80, a Southern California artist best known for his realistic paintings of airplanes and football players, died Sept. 24 of lung cancer at his home in Solvang. Corning, who had no ...