Michael Sampson: Always Making Art

“Early on I was always drawing things…My grandmother recalled that I liked drawing feet as a child. At 7 or 8 I also started playing sports, I was in Little League, and I collected baseball cards,” said local artist Michael Sampson. “But I was always drawing when I was at home.”

“My mother had Andrew Wyeth prints on our walls and I remember we traveled to Boston from our Rockport, Mass. home to an Andrew Wyeth exhibit when I was in my teens,” he said. 

It was about a 40-minute train ride. 

“I didn’t realize the difference between prints and the originals at the Wyeth exhibit, but I really liked the show,” he said. 

“When we graduated from high school, kids went off to college or jobs, or the military. I’d taken an art class in drawing at night at Montserrat College of Art, about a 30-minute drive from my home, and I decided to go there for the next four years”, he said, explaining that Montserrat was a small college, and he worked directly in small classes with his professors. 

“I especially savored working with my painting professor, Roger Martin,” Sampson said. “Roger’s advice and tutelage as a mentor has always kept me grounded as an artist over the years.”

The first year and a half was all about the fundamentals of visual  arts—drawing, printmaking, graphic design, sculpture, illustration, and painting.

“I was pleased to take these classes, but I was always painting by then,” Sampson said, adding, “my girlfriend Rachel Philipson, who would soon become my wife, also studied at Montserrat. After we had completed our Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees we, along with a few other Montserrat graduates, rented an art studio in Salem, Mass. It was located in a very old, oversized, decrepit building. And we made art in that big, awful building and we were happy.”

“Down the street from our studio was a well-respected ceramics company where I worked painting greenware. And also nearby was a small apartment where I lived. My job, our studio, and my apartment were all in close proximity. After my work in ceramics, I would paint in my studio every day.” 

Philipson, photographer and graphic designer, set up a darkroom in the old building, in those days before digital photography. Although the building was rough, the neighborhood was safe and quiet. Philipson began doing photography for a newspaper, and the couple lived and worked and made art in Salem for five years.

“Every so often we would clean up our studio space and host an “Open Studio.” People would come and see our work and we enjoyed the interaction and showing our art and photography,” Sampson said. “In 1998 we moved to Ithaca, where Rachel had grown up and where her family lived. I applied to the Arnot Art Museum and was hired by Director John O’Hearn. By that time in my life, I was passionate about art, loved being in museums, and the Arnot has a fine permanent collection.” 

It was an opportunity to learn about the art world at a small museum.

“Art galleries can feel intimidating or uncomfortable,” Sampson said. “I like to present art in a way that is accessible, so that people can view the art and feel engaged. My own work is colorful, expressive, and about abstractions directly from the figure, so I feel my paintings, drawings, and prints are accessible to the viewer.”

 On May 1, 2021, he became the Curator of The Gallery at the South Hill Business Campus. 

“I find it big and beautiful with perfect lighting and a spacious feeling,” he said. “Curating upcoming shows is always exciting and exhausting. Developing exhibition programs and selecting artists for exhibitions along with marketing, installation, and promotion are some of my responsibilities as curator.”

“Since 2000 I’ve had a studio at home, and since August of  2019 I’ve had a studio in Artist Alley at the South Hill Business Campus in Ithaca,” he added. “I appreciate having my own studio nearby The Gallery, along with 53 other artists of every kind at Artist Alley. Being an artist and having related jobs has been a healthy way for me to be involved, as my own art has been enhanced by my work, and vice versa.”

“I’m looking forward to our next show at The Gallery, and I invite the public to join us for Alice Muhlbach and Chris Charles ‘exhibit titled “Migration” featuring prints and paintings opening on  March 2 and running through April 7,” Sampson said.

The Gallery at South Hill is located at 950 Danby Road, across the street from the entrance to Ithaca College Open Fridays 12 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 12 to 4 p.m.

And by the time this interview is published, Sampson will have directed his first Ithaca Gallery Night. 

On Ithaca Gallery Night all are invited to visit and share the art of 10 to 20 galleries in Ithaca at no charge and savor the art and photography that surrounds us. 

“I look forward to directing Ithaca Gallery Night to share art with all of you,” Sampson said. For more information, visit www.thegalleryatsouthhill.com, www.michaelsampsonartist.com and www.ithacagallerynight.com.