Kevin Sampson

Kevin Blythe Sampson (November 28, 1954 – March 18, 2026) was an American artist and police detective-composite sketch artist, who lived in Newark, New Jersey. He made sculptures from discarded found objects; he was also an illustrator, painter and muralist. He began focusing on his art full-time following the deaths of close family members and his retirement from the Scotch Plains Police Department. Sampson's work has been influenced by other New York artists who honor the dead through vernacular memorials. His work differs from these artists, as most create murals in Latin American neighborhoods and these street-side, altar-like assemblages of objects are meant to last through only a brief public-display period of remembrance and grief. In the early 1990s, Sampson's wife, Pamela, was diagnosed with a terminal illness and their son, Kyle, was born prematurely and died. Sampson's work references and incorporates African spiritual traditions, including Yoruba, and follows the traditions of the Griot or storyteller.

Sampson completed a number of residencies throughout the United States, including The Marie Walsh Sharp Space program in New York City; a teaching residency at the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin; the Joan Mitchell Center's residency in New Orleans; the Art and Industry Residency at the Kohler in Wisconsin; and the Inaugural Residency at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. His 2019 participation at the International Society of Biourbanism, summer School, Artena (Rome) Italy as a speaker, 2020 Residency in Martha's Vineyard in Union Chapel, in conjunction with the Mariposa Museum, was sponsored by the Vineyard Trust.

Television appearance Sampson was turned into a cartoon, appearing as himself in the PBS Kids animated series Arthur, helping George with a school art project. Kevin's actual artwork is featured in the episode "George Scraps His Sculpture."

Death Sampson died on March 18, 2026, at the age of 71.

Selected exhibitions 2020: CROSSROADS: Artists of the Black Pan-American Home Ground American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection 2020: Carnegie Museum, Installation Legend of Flying Africans, Martha's Vineyard 2020: Mariposa Museum & World Culture Center Installation “Legend of Flying Africans” Martha's Vineyard 2019: Artena Italy (Rome) Created site specific found object sculpture for the town 2019: "Black and Blue" - New Jersey Center for Visual Arts 2019: "Olde Soul" - Rutgers University, Paul Robeson Gallery 2019: "Monument Man" - Mystic Seaport Museum 2013: Installation “An Ill Wind Blowing” City Without Walls, Newark, NJ 2013: Installation the INTUIT - The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago “An Ill Wind Blowing” 2012: Spirit—Fire—Shake! Focal objects by Renée Stout, Kevin Sampson and Odinga Tyehimba, Gregg Museum of Art & Design, North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) 2013: Kevin Blythe Sampson: An Ill Wind Blowing, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (Chicago, IL) 2014: The Roots of the Spirit: Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination, Charlie Lucas, Kevin Sampson, Weigand Gallery, Notre Dame de Namur University (Belmont, CA) 2015: Anthems for the Mother Earth Goddess, Andrew Edlin Gallery (New York, NY) 2016: Modern Heroics: 75 Years of African-American Expressionism, Newark Museum (Newark, NJ)

Residencies 2023: Les Thermes residency 4 Place De Bains, Bourbonne Les Bains, France 2019: International Society of Biourbanism, residency, Artena (Rome) Italy 1994: Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation, Artist-in-Residence (New York, New York) 2001: Joan Mitchell Foundation, Painters & Sculptors Grant (New Orleans, Louisiana) 2016: Joan Mitchell Center, Artist-in-Residence (New Orleans, Louisiana) 2017: John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Kohler Arts and Industry Residency (Kohler Village, Wisconsin)

Public collections University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Mariposa Museum and world culture Cent Racine Museum of Art Kohler Foundation The Newark Museum The Center for Intuitive and Outsider art, Chicago Ill Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY Menello Museum of American Folk Art, Orlando, Florida Montgomery Museum Of Art, Montgomery Alabama Mystic Seaport Museum Newark New jersey Public Library

Board of directors Former Member City without Walls Gallery, 6 Crawford St, Newark, New Jersey Board member 2023-24 Intuit the Center for Intuitive and Outsider art, Chicago 2025-26 Intuit Museum of Art member of the Strategic Advisory Council