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

Donna Coleman

Artist
Home 22 King St. County: Lorain
Oberlin Ohio 44074 United States
Home Ohio United States
Home Phone: 440 935-2646 Website: http://dcolemanpaintings.com

Bio

Donna Coleman received her BFA, Honors, in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA in painting from CUNY Brooklyn College, New York. Her paintings have been exhibited extensively in Washington DC, her hometown, and in northeastern Ohio, her home since 2000. Venues include The Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA; Gallery K, Duke Ellington School for the Arts, New Horizons Gallery of Children’s Hospital, the offices of Senator Eleanor Holmes Norton, The Washington Project for the Arts, WDC; Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, The Baron Gallery of Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH; the HereHere Gallery, The Mather Gallery of Case Western Reserve University, the Dead Horse Gallery, Cleveland, OH; Antioch College’s Herndon Gallery, Yellow Springs, OH; The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery, Columbus, OH; The Little Gallery, BGSU Firelands, Huron, OH; The River Gallery, Rocky River, OH The Sandusky Cultural Center, Carrington Arts, Sandusky, OH; and the Harris Stanton Gallery, Akron & Cleveland, OH. She has been the recipient of four grants from the Ohio Arts Council; as well as the Ellen Johnson Visiting Artist Fund of Oberlin College; four grants from the DC Commission on the Arts; Art Matters, Inc.; and the George Sugarman Foundation. Before moving to Ohio, she was the Director of the Dreamcatcher Arts Summer Camp and Middle School Art Teacher at Sidwell Friends School in Washington DC. She has taught art to young children for many years, and continues to do so at Firelands Association of the Visual Arts in Oberlin. She also teaches fine arts courses to adult students of all ages at Lorain County Community College.  Her website is: http://www.dcolemanpaintings.com

 

Artist Statement

My primary interest as a painter is narrative. The issues that most interest me are somewhat autobiographical – stretches of the imagination based on my own life experiences or those of people I’ve known or observed. Included among these issues are the relationships between humans, the delightful intrepidness of children, and the pervasive influence of that misplaced sense of personal power that manifests as racism, sexism, classism and elitism. I paint lots of invented people, and I try to give each one the attention he or she deserves. I believe that every person is potentially deserving of love and attention, every person has utterly important experiences, we are all here for a reason, and no one is more important than anyone else. If I can’t easily understand most people in life because it is so very difficult – well, impossible actually – to like and understand everybody, at least I can try to understand them through my work.

Portfolio

Click on image or link to see full portfolio