The next time you have a caricature drawn at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, you might offer quiet thanks to John A. Johns.

It was Mr. Johns, president of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh from 1970 to 1982, who came up with the idea some 30 years ago to have art students positioned throughout the sprawling festival, sketch pad in hand.

For just a few dollars, thousands of Western Pennsylvanians have walked away from the festival with likenesses that decorate their walls for years afterward.

Mr. Johns, of Whitehall, died of heart failure on Saturday at Jefferson Hospital. He was 84. He had been living at the Paramount Senior Living at South Hills assisted-living facility in Baldwin since his wife's death last year. Before he moved into Paramount, he had already arranged art classes for other residents there.

While the caricature artists may be his most visible legacy, Mr. Johns had many other notable achievements.

After graduating from the Art Institute in 1940, Mr. Johns served in the Army Air Forces' 22^nd Bomb Squadron during World War II, flying B-25s in the China-Burma-India theater.

In 1952, he began a 17-year career as an illustrator for The Pittsburgh Press. Family members say he drew more than 100 covers of television personalities for the TV Graphic magazine, as well as provided illustrations for its Family magazine supplement.

"He was a consummate artist and a real wonderful human being," said retired Press editor John Troan. "He could do anything, from caricatures to paintings, watercolors and oils." He would often attend fund-raising events, drawing caricatures for $1 each and donating the proceeds, Mr. Troan recalled.

From 1969-74, Mr. Johns did illustrations for the WQED television program "Newsroom," creating portraits, cartoons and caricatures on camera, sometimes as news stories unfolded.

During his tenure as Art Institute president and for years afterward as president emeritus, Mr. Johns traveled to other art institutes to train new caricature artists. Last year, the institute presented him with an honorary doctorate.

Mr. Johns is survived by a son, John B. Johns of Arlington, Va.; a daughter, Robin Rosinski of Fairfax Station, Va.; and a brother, Joseph Johns, and a sister, Genevieve Swick, both of El Paso, Texas.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow and 11 a.m. until the 1 p.m. service Sunday at the Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home, 301 Curry Hollow Road, Pleasant Hills. Interment will follow at Jefferson Memorial Park.