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
Chris Swanson
Playwright
Chris Shaw Swanson’s plays have been honored in more than thirty competitions and seen on more than one hundred stages in the U.S. and abroad. Her publishers include Smith & Kraus, Next Stage Press, Meriwether and the International Centre for Women Playwrights (ICWP). A member of the Dramatists Guild of America and the ICWP, Chris is the recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for Playwriting. She has also taught playwriting at schools and universities in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.
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.
Matt Swift is a Columbus based artist, filmmaker, educator and community organizer whose work combines multiple mediums and modes, including photography, painting, video, digital compositions, mixed media with a deep connection to historical avant-garde and experimental movements of all art forms.
I am a 1981 graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art. I have exhibited locally in NE OH, nationally and internationally. My art has been published in two exhibition catalogs and have authored a book. Upon graduation from CIA I began a career in the graphic arts industry. Positions I have held include art director, gallery director, and production manager of Publications at the Cleveland Museum of Art.