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The Origin of Scantuary
Welcome to Scantuary.Art.
What started as a wordplay—literally just sliding the 'C' right behind the 'S' in sanctuary—turned into the whole reason I get out of bed. Scan-tuary. A safe haven for my work. A brand name made real! I've always been obsessed with word structures, and honestly? It’s pretty awesome when someone catches the hidden meaning behind what I'm building. Think of this site as a love letter from me to you.
My goal is a real physical studio built from adobe. Blue paint. A star window right at the center, with ivy spilling down the edges. Imagining that space was what finally woke me up. I want a dedicated studio and exhibition space where up-and-coming artists can collaborate—100% free of charge. No rigid restrictions. Just real art, no matter who you are, how you talk, or where you come from. Different people gathering, sharing space, and staying fiercely true to their own opinions.
Who I Am: The Okie Fruit
My name is Jacob Miguel Samano. The Okie Fruit.
It’s not a nickname. It’s a feeling. It’s what happens when you grow up in Oklahoma, mixed with Latin pride, working class grit, and the weight of being a gay man in a place that wasn't built for you. To the world outside, it’s the poor, uneducated homo. To me, it’s the exact skin I live in- the dirty, raw, and unpardonable.
Honestly, my whole work is a big fuck you to the art industry—how you have to dress a certain way, fit into a certain box, buy your way into a gallery, how you sell yourself more than your actual work. Most of my work is performance art or performance notes, but shit ain’t free, it costs money. And to keep me sane, I do digital drawings a mix of simple lines, symbols, and graphic, shapes, PNGs —kind of like underground zines or punk print. I'm building my own visual language as a middle finger to traditional, gatekept art standardsThat makes me feel good. I love simplicity with a direct unpolished look.
The simplicity is also a big fuck you to the art industry—how everything has to be Boho niche, well-rounded, "oh, the lines aren’t perfect, maybe color this in." My work is gonna be what I want it to be: a new feeling erected from my soul, a big fuck you. All the scribbles are intentional. All the minimalistic shit is intentional. All the symbolism is intentional—from the PNGs that I choose that are cut out and made, to the color in the doodles and the shapes. The simplicity/unapologetic core !
I’m a Latin American artist with an unyielding drive for labor. I inherited that relentless work ethic from my parents—two deeply hardworking people who rgiven me everything. We’ve bumped heads over the years, and I’ve put them through my fair share of turmoil. But they never left my side. They never threw me away. I owe them everything. Feels right to mention them...more of I MUST mention them. Love you both!
I’ve been working since I was fifteen. Cashier, janitor, prep chef, roofer, plumber, welder, lawn care, store manager, warehouse hand—you name it, I’ve done it. But through every job and every long shift, this heavy guilt sat on my chest. I felt like I was surrendering my ideals. Letting my art slowly die as the years dragged on.
I remember the exact moment the ache to create hit me. I was in elementary school, listening to my teacher, Mrs. McNeely, read about artists. She explained how creators take these hidden thoughts in their heads, lay them down in notebooks, and make them real. I was in absolute awe.
Then real life happens. Growing up is tough. I got caught up in who everyone else wanted me to be. I lived parallel to a version of myself that kept other people comfortable, while my own dreams sat on the back burner.
Look, I’m not a perfect person. I’m often my own worst critic—susceptible to self-destruction and hurting the people closest to me. But I wanted to change. So I’m doing it. Right here. This is the turning point.
That artistic drive wakes me up at 4AM & wont let me sleep till 1PM. I refuse to let these ideas go to the grave with me. For years, I’d come up with performance concepts only to hand them off to the grave. Now, after years of grinding just to find my footing, I’m giving myself a voice. I’m willing to be vulnerable, mess up, and share space with people from every walk of life. I want to prove that two completely different human beings can stand in the same room and coexist—even if they don’t agree on a single thing.
The Questions Behind the Work
My performance and digital art are my way of wrestling with two basic questions:
How can real, everyday artists use alternative spaces and raw performances to punch through elite gatekeeping—without selling out their core message?
Is art something created to prove that two completely different human beings can stand in the same room and coexist—even if they don’t agree on a single thing? Or is it the unapologetic truth of how a working person survives, speaks, and creates every single day?
I just want to share the visions in my head before my time is up.
I am for the people—because I am every single person I’ve ever met.
— Jacob Samano (Okie Fruit)
CORE
Freedom of speech.
Freedom to the people.
Freedom from power.
My art is a self-reflection of the very humanity inside me.
I am but a mirror, reflecting the whole we are as the world. We are scanners, seeing things in RGB pixels and raw scans.
My notes are my life—they hold the key to breeding understanding of each other through art, through performance, and through shared existence.
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