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.
2025 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Jerry Smith
ArtistShaker Heights Ohio 44120 United StatesHome 3359 Clayton Boulevard County: OH
Shaker Heights Ohio 44120 United States Home Phone: 2164085266 Website: http://jerry-smith-artist.com
Bio
ARTIST BIO: Jerry Smith (born 1956) is a re-emerging artist who received his BFA in 1979 from Miami University with a concentration in painting and printmaking, and his MFA in 1981 from the University of Colorado focusing on painting and drawing. In addition to traditional mediums, Jerry’s early work consisted of life-sized three-dimensional abstract figures made from torn and woven tar paper, paint, and roofing compounds on carved wood armatures. After a 40-year career in nonprofit arts administration and fundraising, Jerry returned to working full-time as a visual artist in 2021 with a focus on figurative drawing and painting. More recently he has re-engaged with his early interest in printmaking. Jerry draws on his lived experience with diverse performing and visual arts organizations and educational institutions to inform and heighten his creative work.
Artist Statement
I love the act of creation, of manipulating media and constructing images from the initial gesture to the final mark. In 2016, I began exploring children’s dresses as a subject because they were there – remnants of my wife’s childhood hanging in my studio’s closet, along with a trove of her dolls’ dresses. The shapes, structures, and textures posed interesting challenges for drawing and painting. These dresses, forgotten and outgrown long ago, capture a moment in time that shaped the life of their owners.
Current events, however, have imposed new layers of meaning and greater urgency to the visual representation of an empty dress. Too many children are being slaughtered in school shootings, separated from their immigrant parents, and subjected to legislation for their gender identities.