Education
1998
Master of Fine Arts, UC Davis, CA
1996
Bachelor of Art, Central Wash. University, Ellensburg, WA
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019
Taking Notes, 420 Loft Gallery, Ellensburg, WA
This Way Home, Basecamp Books, Roslyn, WA
2018
This Way Home, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
2017
Catalyst, Ellensburg, WA
Iron Horse, Ellensburg, WA
2016
Gallery 421 Ellensburg, WA
The Jug, Ellensburg, WA
2015
Gard Vinters, Ellensburg, WA
2012
Wonder Stories, 420 Loft, Ellensburg, WA
2010
Third Eye Tattoo, Ellensburg, WA
2002
Anamorphosis, Gallery 110, Seattle, WA
2000
Commencement Art Gallery, Tacoma, WA
1999
Art at Mikes, San Francisco, CA
Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT
1998
Nelson Gallery, Davis, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
Kittitas Juried Show, Ellensburg, WA
This and Then That, Longmont, CO
Clymer Museum (sept 21)
2020
Artists With Black Lives Matter, Seattle WA
Kittitas Juried Show, Ellensburg WA
2019
Interstate, Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Eburg
Larsen Gallery Invite, Larsen Gallery Yakima, WA
La Femme Locale, 420 Loft, Ellensburg
Kittitas County Juried Show, Gallery One
2018
50th Anniversary Show, Gallery One
La Femme Locale, Gallery 420, Ellensburg, WA
2017
Ball in Play: An Unconventional Putt Putt Experience, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
2016
A is for Artist, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
Kittitas Juried Art Show, Ellensburg, WA
Kittitas County Democratic Headquarters, Ellensburg, WA
Roslyn Art Fair show, Roslyn, WA
Cut It Out, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
2015
Kittitas County Juried Show, Ellensburg, WA
2014
Collective Visions Gallery Juried Show, Bremerton, WA
Kittitas County Juried Show, Ellensburg, WA
2013
10 x 10, Mighty Tieton, Teiton, WA
Kittitas County Juried Show, Ellensburg, WA
Staff Show, Gallery One, Ellensburg, WA
2012
CVG Group Show, Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
2003
Gallery 110 Group Show, Seattle, WA
Alumni Show, Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA
2002
Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN
2000
4, Traywick Gallery, Berkeley, CA
1999
New American Paintings, National Printed Exhibition
Revolver, Traywick Gallery, Berkeley, CA
1998
Rhythm, Gesture, Metaphor, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT
Deep Forest: When Urgency Becomes Form, Four Walls Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Thesis Exhibition, Richard L. Nelson Gallery, Davis, CA
1997
Seven at 9, TB-9, Davis, CA
1996
Quickie, Basement Gallery, UC Davis, CA
Awards
2021 Best Of Show, Kittitas County Juried Show
Curator: Phillipe Pirrip
2019 Best Of Show, Kittitas County Juried Show
2016 Honorable Mention, Cut it Out, Gallery One
2014 Eldean Adams award for Watercolor, Gallery One
2013 Mary Frances Award
1998 Best of Show, The Basement Gallery show
Public Art
2021 Oregon State Capitol, Sen. Kate Lieber's office
2020 Ellensburg Bus Stop glass panels
Press
The Ellensburg Daily Record, March 2020 "Learning Landscapes",
New American Paintings, 1999
News Tribune Tacoma, March 1999, "Dirty White Pop" by Alec Clayton
The New Haven Advocate, May 1998, "Whats the Word?"
The New York Times, May 10, 1998, "Painters Picks"
Artweek, March 1998 "Deep Forest"
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I have always been fascinated by mark making. When I was in grade school I wrote in a special text I created by squaring off every curve in penmanship. I would turn in every assignment in this strange text that resembled 80s computer font. I took note in my mind constantly of the different ways people write and draw. One friend of mine used to peel back the corners of his notebook paper obsessively and worked so much on his very deliberate writing style that every thing he turned in had this aged, intense feel. I'm not really sure other people noticed this, but I did. I would always try to copy the different ways people wrote, changing my signature and style depending on whatever fascinated me that week. Many girls liked to use that bubble style of writing that instantly gave itself away as feminine. Sometimes with a heart for the dot on the “I”. There was a blend of boredom in mundane schoolwork and joy in the of the aesthetics of pencil on paper, ball point pen on a post it note, or the special way you might fold a note for a friend. I am tapping into these dormant memories of an analog world that is disappearing. The paintings are visual document of the act of trying to remember and make sense of memories, both personal and cultural and creating a space on the canvas that gives the images and text a home. I want them to recede and advance; to be both fresh and embedded with history.
Sam currently resides in the sleepy, college town of Ellensburg, WA. After receiving her MFA from UC Davis in 1998, she and her husband lived in and around Seattle until 2010 until their move to Ellensburg. There was a brief detour to Cleveland, Ohio in 2017 but the sweeping skies, rugged trails, and lack of people will keep her in Eastern Washington for the foreseeable future. The mash up of the polar opposite terrain and idealogies of the two sides of Washington is a constant source of inspiration.