She is interested in "honor[ing] the past while revising historical memory" through works that explore her own personal identity.

Sam Vernon was born in Brooklyn, NY and attended Suitland High School.

[3] Sam Vernon earned her BFA from The Cooper Union in 2009 and her MFA in Painting/Printmaking at Yale School of Art in 2015.

[8] In September 2016, Vernon presented the installation Rage Wave in a partner program between Interstitial gallery in Georgetown and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

The multimedia piece involved xerox copies of photographs, drawings and writings exploring themes of systematic racism and exploitation in African American history.