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
Mikelle Hickman-Romine
Craft Artist, Poet Studios On High GalleryMember ArtistColumbus OH 43223 US Home Phone: 614.327.4252 Website: Mikelle Hickman-Romine
Bio
Education 1995 A.A., Simon’s Rock Early College, Great Barrington, MA Awards/Honors 2024 Artist Supply Grant, Greater Columbus Arts Council 2023 Artist Supply Grant, Greater Columbus Arts Council 2023 1st place, Ohio State Fair Creative Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, OH 2023 Ohio Arts Council Award of Excellence, Cox Fine Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fair, Columbus, OH 2023 Juror’s Choice Award, Women of Appalachia Art Exhibit, The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH 2022 Best Jewelry/Metalwork, 76th Ohio Annual Exhibition, Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, OH (online) 2016 Finalist, Bead Dreams, Bead and Button Show presented by Kamblach Publishing, Milwaukee, WI 2015 Best of Show, Ohio State Fair Creative Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, OH 2015 1st place, Ohio State Fair Creative Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, OH 2015 2nd place, Ohio State Fair Creative Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, OH 2013 (Finalist, craft) Visual Arts Fellowship Presented by the Greater Columbus Arts Council in conjunction with the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH 2011 1st Place, Jewelry, St. James Court Art Show, Belgravia Court Section, Louisville, KY 2010 Postcard Award for Excellence, Best of 2010,Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH Exhibitions 2025-6 The State Fair, Smithsonian’s The Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC 2025 Dominion, Studios on High Gallery, Columbus, OH 2025 Women of Appalachia Art Exhibition, The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH 2024 Ohio State Fair Cox Fine Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, OH 2024 Best of 2024, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH 2023 Ohio State Fair Creative Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, OH 2023 Ohio State Fair Cox Fine Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, OH 2023 Best of 2023, Ohio Craft Musuem, Columbus, OH 2023 Women of Appalachia Art Exhibit, The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH 2022 76th Ohio Annual Exhibition, (selected by Cat Sherridan) Zanesville Mueum of Art, Zanesville, OH (online) 2022 Imago Dei, Studios on High Gallery, Columbus, OH 2022 Best of 2022, Ohio Craft Museum, (selected by Betty Talbott, Director Emeritus of the Ohio Craft Musuem) Columbus, OH 2021 Best of 2020-2021, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH (online) 2016 Crafting Enchantment, collaborative works with woodcarver Laura Jenkins Gorun, Studios On High Gallery, Columbus, OH 2016 Ohio State Fair Cox Fine Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, OH 2016 Bead Dreams, Bead and Button Show, Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, WI 2015 Ohio State Fair Creative Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, OH 2014 Best of 2014, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH (selected by Namita Gupta Wiggers, Director and Chief Curator, and Nicole Nathan, Curator of Collections at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, Oregon) 2013 Adoring You, Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, Lancaster, PA 2013 Craft Forms, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA (selected by Lena Vigna, Curator of Exhibitions at the Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI) 2013 Best of 2013, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH (selected by Michael W. Munroe, director emeritus of Bellvue Arts Museum, WA) 2012 Binding Together Two Cultures—Clay and Bead Works, Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, Coshocton, OH 2012 Ohio State Fair Cox Fine Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, OH 2012 Best of 2012, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH (selected by Lloyd E. Herman, founding director of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum) 2010 Best of 2010, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH (selected by Albertus Gorman, director of studio arts at the Zoom Group) 2009 Best of 2009, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH (selected by Wendy H. Outland, independent curator) Bibliography Christopher A. Yates, “Skilled Set.” The Columbus Dispatch, May 9, 2010 Donovan Campbell, “Artist prepares to present thousands of beads at Winterfair” Upper Arlington News, December 2, 2009 Media Women of Appalachia Artist Talks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQQcibJ3f8k Broad & High WOSU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DA4b8gaJoo Gallery Affiliation Studios On High Gallery, Columbus, OH
Artist Statement
As an artist, I am guided by beauty, harmony, and naturalism—as a jeweler, by functionality and wearablility. I love the deep historical connection of the craft process. My primary medium, gourd stitch off-loom bead weaving, has been found in Egyptian tombs and across the world in the historical record, and I love to know that I am doing the same technique as millions of other people, mostly women, to adorn the lives of my community. I am deeply rooted in the Ohio landscape, born and largely raised in Central Ohio, and its streams and wild grapevine and tall trees are my home. I love it here. I hope to inspire others to love the land that raised them, and to help care for it in any way that they can. With my current project making portraits of Ohio native imagos, I hope to inspire others to love the winged beings they share a home with. Planting native plants, wildcrafting and foraging, and helping to limit the negative impact of human civilization would be a great start.
