Todd Samara

Painting never dies. It just keeps moving. You get past the madness and through the training of meditation, see the truth of the universe.

Todd Samara

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Born in Brooklyn, Todd Samara lived and worked for many years in Kingston’s Rondout District. Inspired by Rondout’s hilly streetscapes and views of the Rondout Creek and Hudson River, he translated its rows of 19th-century buildings, churches, and iconic Wurts Street Bridge into dream-like reveries in a fauvist style of simplified forms and glowing color. Described as “the quintessential local artist” by American Artist in its July/August 2010 issue, Todd exhibited at numerous galleries in the area and attracted a loyal following. Many of his patrons consisted of local business owners, and his murals and paintings still grace the walls of Tony’s Pizzeria, the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and other venues. Lacking a car, Todd lived in a steel-hulled, turquoise-hued boat at the Hideaway Marina in the 1990s before settling in a small house and studio on Hone Street, which he shared with his partner, ceramist and painter Leslie Miller, until her death in 2009, afterward living there alone for some years.

In 2017, after a couple of years of suffering from dementia, Todd could no longer live on his own and moved to a nursing home, where on September 30, 2020, he passed away. The community was saddened by this loss, but fortunately his legacy lives on, thanks to the Todd Samara Art Fund Project, which provides annual artist’s stipends and is dedicated to preserving Todd’s work. This website was created by family members and artist friends to preserve his legacy and inspire future artists with his vision.

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