Johnston is a sculptor and a ceramicist and was a member of the University of Utah art faculty from  1969 until 1990. He is a Professor of Art at the California State University, San Bernadino.

Johnston earned his BFA from California State University and his MFA from Cranbrook Academy in Michigan. Also an arts administrator of unique vision and capability, this multifaceted artist served a three-year directorship of the Salt Lake Art Center in which he was instrumental in the revitalization of that pivotal institution in the 1980s.