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
Bio
Samantha Schneider is an accomplished oil painter currently residing in OH. Graduating in 2021 from the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) with a double major in painting and drawing. Schneider carved her artistic niche with massive figurative works. A strong focus on cinema and the idea of “playing a role” she creates self portraits that take on their own lives as different characters. From setting up the scene, to the reference photos she takes, each brushstroke she makes and the figures portrayed. The process of creation within every step is as important as the final product. Schneider’s artistic vision draws inspiration from the theatrical staging of Renaissance paintings, as well as lighting and composition from modern sci-fi, fantasy and thriller movies.
Enamored by her own individual existence and the many facets of the conscious and subconscious mind. She dives into emotion, memory, and change. Who we were, who we are and who we are becoming. How people are always in a state of change and never truly have a grasp of self. Captivated by the idea that one being can have conflicting thoughts and inner turmoil, that even within one mind there can be multiple paths of thought. People are so complex and many things all at once. Her paintings are a pursuit of self discovery within the human psyche.
Schneider’s academic journey was marked by exceptional studio practice, earning her the Eastman (1912)-Bolton Memorial Prize. Additionally, she was honored with the Mary Seymour Brooks Scholarship for Painting and the Liza Noble ’48 Scholarship for Excellence in Painting during her college years. After graduating she has gone on to win best in show two times at the Mansfield Art Center and earn an Ohio Arts Council Award. She has exhibited work in multiple solo and group shows, with her most recent debut in the Mansfield Art Centers first ever triennial ‘Proximity of Fate’ which featured local, national and internationally known artists as Michael Coppage and Kehinde Wiley.
Artist Statement
In my large-scale oil paintings, I embark on a visual exploration of the intricacies of individuality. Through the intimate lens of self-portraiture, I delve into the depths of the human experience. I am intrigued by the idea that an individual can encapsulate so many thoughts, dreams, ideas, opinions.
We often look outwards to others before turning inward and contemplating the idea of self. This mystery of the subconscious captivates me.
I represent myself as different characters as a visual exploration of the internal landscape. As well as how environment and circumstances influence how one is perceived by others, how one perceives themself, or how one desires to be. A desire to be someone cooler, stronger and more confident like we see from actors playing roles in our favorite movies. In this sense I am an actor within my own work. Many different versions of ourselves exist in the world.
In everyone’s own mind you are someone different, their own version of you based on what they know. My paintings are a deep dive into the human mind based on individual experiences in the world. There is so much depth and mystery as to who we really are and I am searching within myself, creating a body of work in the physical world to visually communicate these ideas.
