The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Ann Woods
Bio
I am a lover of words and of words written expressively, whatever the language, whatever the
medium. This love of visual dance underpins every design challenge I undertake, whether it be
hand lettering, books or 3-D constructions, large-scale works, marbled and other decorative
papers and the objects I make from them, or the occasional leap into illustration, photography,
or invention of artist tools.
In 1981, I left a first career teaching college-level history and researching ancient and medieval
manuscripts, to devote myself to Art. By 1984, I had the honor of being named an Artist-in-
Schools (K-12), beginning a 36-year collaboration with teachers throughout Ohio that sought to
open students to valuable skills and insights into learning through the Arts, and especially
about the inherent communion of science and art. I have long taught adult workshops in
lettering and in Classic and Contemporary marbling at my Columbus studio. More at
http://www.aimiaartworks.com
Artist Statement
My formal calligraphic training was a privilege made possible by the Calligraphy Guild system
begun in the United States in the late 1970s, fostering classical training here and abroad with
renowned calligraphers from around the world. More recently, generous grants from the
Greater Columbus Arts Council have fostered my research and teaching of historic and modern
marbling.
My more public work can be seen locally at Whetstone Library’s Peace Park (outdoors), the St.
Thomas More Newman Center at OSU, and at Temple Tifereth Israel. Major design
opportunities came as calligrapher for the National Association of Arts Administrators,
calligrapher at the Logan Elm Press at OSU (A Letter to Columbus; Solche Sensationen, etc.)
and as designer of Distinguished Alumni Awards for the University of Kentucky.
In 1987 (to the present) I proposed, created, and directed The Public Book: Letters to Our
Great-Great-Grandchildren, a legacy project giving voice to all citizens in the Greater Columbus
area through a troubled time–but one that could not have happened but for the generosity,
enthusiasm, and labors of so many individuals who picked up the torch and ran. Consisting of
almost 150 large fabric pages, it captured the spirit of the community (now archived at the
Columbus Historical Society, with archival materials at Columbus Metropolitan Library). For
more, http://www.thepublicbook.org
I have called Columbus my home since 1972. It is here, with my husband, Alan Woods (OSU
Emeritus) and family that I rediscovered my childhood love of being a maker, and it is here,
encouraged by both family and the Columbus community, that I have had the privilege of
following that passion as an artist and teacher.