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. For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
Benjamin Sostrom
Artist
Ben Sostrom is a woodworker and mixed-media sculptor based in Columbus, Ohio. His work focuses on blending his scientific background with the dramatic forms of the natural world. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University’s Departments of Theatre and Astronomy. His sculptural work was the subject of the shows “beingnonbeing” (2019) and “These Are Not For You” (2021); he is represented by Studios on High Gallery.
Harmonic Soul Band is an eclectic soul band that has quickly become one of the fastest rising bands in the city of Columbus. Combining a mixture of R&B, hip hop, soul and funk, Harmonic Soul is known for curating a high vibrational atmosphere through music and showmanship. Their overall intent is to provide an uplifting and interactive experience with the audience.
Jennifer Sowders
Sowders
Jennifer is a nationally-winning, Northwest Ohio painter. She specializes in watercolor landscapes on Yupo or acrylic. She is a Signature member of the Ohio Watercolor and an Associate of the American and National Watercolor Societies; on the board of the Fostoria Area Arts Council, a member of the Ohio Art League as well as many local arts organizations. Jennifer is a 1994 BFA graduate from the Columbus College of Art and Design.
Kate Spencer
owner
Having settled in Cincinnati 25 years ago after a lifetime of moving around the US from border to border and coast to coast, Kate is a retired college professor of English who has taken up a second career as a quilter, making miniature patchwork quilts for wall hangings and table runners. I have been inspired by the example of my maternal grandmother, Georgia, who also took up quilting in later life and who designed many of her own quilts, and by her mother, Pearle, who created many beautiful works in a variety of textile crafts-quilting, sewing, embroidery, crocheting, and lace-making.
The creative process is about instinct. I may walk to my easel with a basic idea of colors I want to use but I let my intuition fuel the engine. The elements and principles of design unintentionally adjust my intentions allowing me to create pattern, texture, balance and harmony. I never want to be limited in my expression. There are already so many boundaries in this world. I find art to be my refuge. I am most at peace when surrounded by paint and brushes.
In my previous life, I was a suit and tie audit supervisor with the Auditor of State of Ohio, having received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree with a major in accounting from The Ohio State University in 1987. What little writing ability I possess was developed writing audit reports to be released to the public by the state of Ohio upon completion of each audit. …
Anne Spurgeon is an interdisciplinary artist working between Columbus, Ohio and Brooklyn, New York. Questions about transformation reoccur in Spurgeon’s creative practice. Her involvement began through performance, from playing guitar on stage, to creating private video performances about identity and the sense of the public and private self. In the past few years her focus has moved away from the personal consciousness of the body, to the transformation of sculptural and drawing materials.
My new book is These Americans, a collection of short stories and a novella published by Minerva Rising Press. The novella in this collection, “Hawk,” was a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize.
My novel And Laughter Fell From the Sky was published in 2012 by HarperCollins.
My short stories have been published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies.…
I love color. Color makes me happy. I love its ability to communicate emotion and mood. To transport people. How a dab of blue here or a smudge of yellow over there can suddenly give a painting life.
There is no agenda when I paint. Inspiration comes from a feeling or emotion that I try to convey on the of a canvas or paper. I want to see what happens when paint dribbles down the surface or when two colors come together and mix. I like to layer colors and play with space, I try to let the painting be what it wants to be.
I paint intuitively and adapt to the painting as it shifts and changes. I stay as flexible and as open as possible so that the painting can have its own life. I try not to interfere too much, because whenI do, the painting becomes overworked and unloved. Then I have to start over again.
I am drawn to more organic shapes when I paint-no straight or true lines just letting the paint and shapes flow from whatever mood or mode I am in at the time. I like art to say something to the viewer about the artist and maybe a little bit about themselves.
Craig Staufer grew up on a farm in Medina County and currently lives in a restored 1834 Western Reserve home near Lodi, Ohio. Art has been a pursuit of Craig’s his entire life. He studied at Kent State and the University of Akron as well as expanding his skills with many other artists over the years.…
Katrina Steele
photographer
Katrina Steele is a photographer in Knox County, Ohio. She dabbles in many genres but is particularly drawn to images portraying the natural world. Katrina has placed in numerous local competitions, was a 2020 Bryn Du Artist, a 2021 VOICE competition finalist and 2022 VOICE honorable mention, a 2023 Ohio Artist Registry Exhibition artist and is a current Click Pro Elite. Her work has been published in breed industry magazines, humane society newsletters, and state park calendars, and she has volunteered countless hours photographing events for local non profits.
Artist Experience
Rachel Stern – Artist
rach4art@att.net
Mobile: 614-361-8120
Exhibitions:
Solo: 2012, 2009, 2004: Sharon Weiss Gallery, Columbus, Ohio,
2011: Decorator Show House – Columbus Museum of Art, Women’s Board, Columbus, Ohio
2010: Union County pARTnership Exhibit, Doc’s Bakery &
Cafe, 211 East Fifth Street, Marysville, Ohio 43040
Selected Group Juried Exhibits:
2020: Bryn Du Mansion Art Exhibit, Granville, Ohio
2020 – 2019: An Evening with Art, Columbus Museum of
Art, Women’s Board
2019 – 2021: Art for Life Auction, Sponsored by Columbus AIDS Taskforce, Columbus, Ohio
2019, 2013, 2009: The Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition,
Professional Division, Columbus, Ohio
2013 – Peggy R.…
Mike Stevens
Co-Owner
Mike Stevens is a glass artist living and working in Toledo, OH. He holds a BFA cum laude in Three Dimensional Studies from Bowling Green State University. In 2012 he opened Gathered Glassblowing Studio, in downtown Toledo, which he operates with partner Adam Goldberg.
Kate Stewart
Illustrator
Kate Stewart is an Illustrator, Designer, Crafter, and Photographer – among other things – from North Canton, Ohio. She graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2020 with her BFA in Illustration. She also has additional concentrations of study in Creative Writing, Graphic Design, and Art Education. She hopes to pursue a career path that includes her pursuit of artistry but that is also rooted in community involvement and the development of arts and culture programs both in schools and for communities.…
Stephanie Stewart
Owner
P31 ART & DESIGN is a Christian, family-run art and design company that was developed as a means to uplift our family’s entrepreneurial spirit. Located in Akron, OH, our team is comprised of a mother-daughter duo with occasional contributions from her sons. We produce handpainted goods including greeting cards, earrings, shopping bags (totes), journals, mugs and art prints. All of our original paintings are also available for sale.
Michelle Stitzlein maintains a studio in a former grange hall in the community of Baltimore, Ohio. Her large scale sculptures and installations created with repurposed materials have been shown nationally in solo exhibitions. She has been an AIR at Shenandoah National Park, VA, Denali National Park, AK, and the Millay Colony of Arts, NY, and has been awarded two Individual Excellence Grants from the Ohio Arts Council.
Byproduct Studios is a collaboration between artists and designers Molly Jo Burke and Nathan Gorgen. The collaboration centers on artmaking processes that allow the studio to utilize excess material from the artist’s respective practices and domestic life together to create new artworks. The creations play with perceptions of a material’s purpose, quality, and value, as waste remnants and the byproducts of our life are transformed through the process.
Grace Summanen was born in Ashtabula, OH, and currently lives and works in Euclid, OH. Her artwork pushes traditional definitions through material exploration and systematic approaches to abstraction. She works in various media including relief painting, installation, and works on paper. She received her MFA in painting from Kent State University in 2011 and her BFA in painting, drawing, and printmaking from Carnegie Mellon University in 1996. Grace has shown at numerous locations in Northeast Ohio including Abattoir Gallery, Zygote Press, Spaces, Waterloo Arts, and Yard Projects. She has shown nationally in group exhibitions including To See Is To Have: Navigating Today’s Art Ecosystem at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX; Big Idea at the Painting Center in New York City; and surface/material at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Grace is a faculty member at Lake Erie College and Lakeland Community College.
Born in Columbus Ohio, art has always been a very important part of her life. Gale’s passion for art was nurtured early at Northland High School where she was able to interact with a dedicated teacher and many other talented art students.
Nita Sweeney is the award-winning wellness author of the running and mental health memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink and co-creator of the writing journal, You Should Be Writing: A Journal of Inspiration & Instruction to Keep Your Pen Moving. A long-time meditator, three-time marathoner, and former assistant to writing practice originator Natalie Goldberg, Nita founded the Facebook group Mind, Mood, and Movement to support mental well-being through meditation, exercise, and writing practice. She also publishes the writing resource newsletter, Write Now Columbus. Nita lives in central Ohio with her husband, Ed, and their yellow Labrador retriever, Scarlet. Go to Nita’s website to download your free copy of Nita’s eBook Three Ways to Heal Your Mind.