Before the blues became a museum piece, it was a conjuring. Before horror became a genre, it was a lived condition.
Artist Commune: Noire's Blues is a Noir Horror critique of Ryan Coogler's Sinners (2025), a Southern Gothic vampire film set in 1932 Mississippi. The film utilizes the juke joint as a sacred space, the blues as a supernatural force, and the vampire as a metaphor for cultural extraction, racial terror, and the price of Black artistic brilliance. Following twin brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan) as they open a juke joint for their community, the film centers on a blues performance that collapses time itself—conjuring musicians across generations, from West African griots to hip-hop DJs.
With a record-breaking sixteen Oscar nominations, Sinners operates on multiple levels simultaneously: horror film, music film, historical drama, and meditation on what Black art creates and what it costs.
The evening follows a repeating rhythm: Screen → Sound → Speech. We'll screen select clips chosen to illuminate specific elements of the Noir Horror genre and the film's deep engagement with Black cultural history. After each clip, DJ O Sharp and the Black Student Music Association will provide a live sonic response—not background music, but a critical act of interpretation that frames how you enter the conversation. Then, we'll discuss.
Part critique, part sonic investigation, Artist Commune: Noire's Blues asks what Black music carries across time—and what it has always cost to make it.
RSVP for the Free Event!
If you enjoyed Sinners, watch this documentary: Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019, dir. Xavier Burgin) — based on Robin R. Means Coleman’s foundational scholarship. Traces the full history of Black people in horror cinema.
Artist Commune is a recurring event hosted by Urban Arts Space that allows artists and the community to come together to create art, discuss art, and network.
Urban Arts Space may photograph or video the event for promotional purposes. By attending, participants grant permission for their likeness to be used in promotional materials. If you prefer not to be photographed, please inform event staff.
Visiting Urban Arts Space
50 W. Town St., Ste. 130
Columbus, OH 43215
Located in the historic Lazarus Building in downtown Columbus.
Admission to our exhibitions and programs is free!
View this map for parking garage options, with street parking on Rich, Front, and Wall Street, or go to our Accessibility page for bike or bus directions.