About the Artist
Urban Arts Space was pleased to select Arris’ J. Cohen (Sir’Ra) as the inaugural Community Artist-in-Residence for July–December 2023 for his dedication to encouraging art-making within the community and for the community.
Arris’ is a Cleveland-born, Columbus-based, classically trained visual artist who has been working professionally since the onset of the pandemic. His artistic vision is based in the diaspora and telling the story of his creative journey as an African American. Using vibrant colors and geometric shapes, his paintings reflect Afrofuturism and Afro Surrealism. Arris’ was also the featured artist in the Irrepressible Soul exhibition at Urban Art Space in June 2023 and has been involved with community-related work with UAS for over a year.
His love for painting has expanded to murals, and his practice continues to diversify as he has been afforded the opportunity to teach and give back to communities similar to that from which he grew. He looks forward to continued growth and opportunity to inspire people to be symbols of life and positivity in a landscape where not much else can thrive, just like the Baobab Tree.
Arris’ used this residency to take his work to the next level creatively while giving back to the community and promoting the importance of art in our culture. His free public programming—including a discussion around public art, music-inspired art-making at the Hale Center, and a mural project with Moler Elementary—helped bridge the gap between differing communities, with art as the connector.
The Story Continues!
Urban Arts Space is excited to share that Arris's residency has been extended across 2024! Arris' will collaborate with fellow Community Artist-in-Residence Ajanaé Dawkins to create additional public programming this fall. We're grateful to Arris' and Ajanaé for all the hard work they've put into their community programming, exhibitions, and artistry, bringing other local artists and community collaborators into the fold.
Culminating Exhibition: Fervent Fruition
January 9–February 27, Urban Arts Space
"Multimedia portraits and acrylic paintings are currently the vehicles through which my work is conveyed. Earth tones, brilliant colors, and skin tones are used most often. Photorealism, Hyperrealism, and Surrealism are the aesthetics which I use to tell the story of the post-modern Diaspora. I want people to see the life I’ve seen and want to see with emphasis on the similarities and differences in the everyday lives of melanated people. There is always a perspective of thoughtful emotion and introspect in my artistic process. I create to glorify the higher energies and frequencies from which this gift came. Ultimately, my goal is to give my children tangible and intangible benefits from which they can thrive on in their future." — Arris' J. Cohen
Listen to Arris' talk about what he learned during his residency with Urban Arts Space!
Community Projects & Events
September 13, 2023
The launch party at the Ohio State Community Extension Center celebrated Arris' as Urban Arts Space’s inaugural artist-in-residence. Guests enjoyed free food and a guided conversation about how we could build stronger collaborations across the arts community. Arris’ also spoke about his artwork and projects within the community, from murals and teaching to upcoming exhibitions and programming with Urban Arts Space.
At Moler Elementary, Arris’ served a vital role as an educator and artist in helping a class of students develop, design, and create a mural to enliven their cafeteria space. Students spent several class sessions learning the fundamentals of color theory and design before contributing their own concepts to the community mural. These drawings were incorporated into a composite design that was projected onto the cafeteria wall. Alongside Arris’, the students spent several months painting this large-scale mural before celebrating the final composition with a school party.
September 29, 2023
Arris' served as one of the co-facilitators, alongside Marshall Shorts and Dr. gloria wilson, for a discussion surrounding public art in Columbus for September's Artist Commune. The guests talked about how public art can come in a variety of forms, from monuments and murals to advertisements and graffiti, but each form is connected by its accessibility to the public for viewing and interpretation.
This discussion and organization of ideas was a form of public art, one in which attendees were encouraged to engage through collectively contributing to the creation, interpretation, and ongoing evolution of how public art is imagined, made, viewed, and understood.
September 2023
This exhibition at Wild Goose Creative in Franklinton was a celebration of cultural connectivity through the notion of proximity, practice, and collaboration. “Origins” featured three artists born and raised in Cleveland who are building and maintaining art careers in Columbus, including Arris’ Cohen, Bryant Anthony, and Roger Brackins. It also featured a rap performance by Chris Hearn, live painting from Arris’ and the other artists, a collaboration with Black Men Build and Irrepressible Soul, and skating in the gallery.
August 26, 2023
In continuation of Irrepressible Soul's mission to empower the Black community through creativity, the group hosted a block party at the MPACC Box Park in the heart of Columbus's historically Black neighborhood of Mt. Vernon. The event celebrated fifty years of hip-hop with an immersive gallery inside the "Foundation to Future" build-out, along with music from homegrown DJs, food, vendors, health resources, and games for the entire community. They also highlighted Afrofuturism through the lens of community, spotlighting Arris's artwork.
We Who Come From, an exhibition curated by Urban Arts Space interns Sierra Hamilton and Iyana Hill, featured work by Arris’ and a number of other local artists. The show explored the diversity of humanity by showcasing the distinctive connections between culture and self-discovery. Individually, each piece told the artists’ stories about the relationship they have with their culture. Together, these pieces highlighted a collection of diverse narratives of the universal human experience.
To celebrate the grand opening of The Peninsula, Urban Arts Space partnered with Downtown Columbus, Inc. to provide free arts programming to the public, including live painting from Arris’! During this time, Arris’ completed an oval-shaped piece of a woman adorned with a flower that appeared in future shows.
November 14, 2023
Arris' hosted Urban Arts Space's biggest Artist Commune of the year at the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center on Ohio State campus. Inspired by music and community, visitors expressed themselves through different mediums of art making with free art materials and an immersive journey through hip-hop with DJ O Sharp.
Arris’ also presented his curated exhibition Mimesis and the inspiration behind his art in the MLK Lounge at the Hale Center, a hub for Black students at Ohio State and a place for all to experience diverse perspectives.
