The Urban Arts Space Music Collective is a collaborative Spotify project. We create playlists that incorporate specific genres of music, music history, record labels, new album releases, local Columbus artists, and themes that relate to the exhibitions being shown at Urban Arts Space or Hopkins Hall Gallery.
Exhibiting artists are invited to curate a playlist to accompany their work. Other times, these playlists are shared with our Urban Arts Space staff, encouraging them to explore the theme and add songs to the collaborative playlist.
This project was created by former UAS intern Katelyn Hussing. She hoped that the Music Collective would allow Urban Arts Space to expand into new forms of engagement and give guests an immersive experience both visually and sonically.
We’re excited to share our UAS Music Collective homepage, a place to house our Spotify projects. The page divides our playlists into four categories: Artist Commune, Exhibition, Local, and Staff. Each group was created with a specific intention in mind.
Artist Commune playlists are collaborative staff playlists centered around the theme of that month’s Artist Commune; a free monthly event from Urban Arts Space designed for artists seeking an interactive art space. For example, in September 2024, we held Artist Commune: Swap Social, a creative exchange that invited the community to bring in old art materials so they could find a new home. For the Swap Social playlist, we were inspired by the beauty of reimagination and collected over two hours of the staff’s favorite cover songs!
Exhibition playlists are curated by the artists, inviting them to find sonic complements to their work. We then use these playlists throughout receptions and programming to amplify the presence of their art. For our 2025 exhibition, Vessels in Red, curators Christina Navarro, Miriam King, and Ashley Martin investigated how our bodies process, hold, and transmute human emotions—particularly love, shame, guilt, anger, and grief. They then collaborated on this playlist that evokes the same multisensory experience brought on by this exhibition.
Our local playlists explore the work of music organizations and gatherings around Columbus. Focusing on Columbus-based music provides staff with the opportunity to connect to movements around the community and open doors for future collaborations. For our first playlist, Katelyn Hussing crafted a list of artists on the Numero Group label. Numero Group is an archival record label founded in 2003 with special roots in Columbus, Ohio. Its first release was a reissue of rare soul and R&B music originally released by Capsoul Label, which was founded in Columbus, Ohio, by Bill Moss. Numero Group holds the origin stories of all our favorite music genres, revealing forgotten music history.
Staff playlists are a time for fun. When collaborating with a team, it’s easy to forget that we all have something new and exciting to bring to the table. These staff playlists give us the perfect opportunity to create art together while maintaining our own styles. One of our favorite staff playlists was created before summer break and is chock-full of our individual picks for summer essentials. From De La Soul to Deftones, this playlist is as unique as our staff.
The UAS Music Collective allows us to expand our knowledge in music as well as connect music to other forms of artistry, such as movies, fashion, poetry, photography, and more. Through sharing playlists, the conversation opens to diverse ways of thinking about the theme, and new interpretations are formed. Overall, the Music Collective is about bringing people and the local Columbus music scene together and having fun sharing music we love!