Irrepressible Soul, a collection of artwork form 26 Black and Afro-diasporic artists, is on display at Urban Arts Space at The Ohio State University from June 1-July 1.
Curated by Iyana Hill, a senior at The Ohio State University, and Dr. Terron Banner, manager of community learning and experience at the Urban Art Space, the exhibition celebrates and explores the multidimensionality of the Black aesthetic through artwork and educational programming.
“I’m personally very passionate about arts equity and creating opportunities for minorities when it comes to the arts because that is something that is lacking in society,” Hill says.
In collaboration with Sole Classics, Black Footwear Forum, Canvaas, the OSU Department of African American and African Studies, the OSU AAAS Community Extension Center and the Columbus Music Commission, the exhibit features artwork across mediums, from video installations, photography and graffiti, to paintings, sculptures and even a display with chicken wire and dirt.
The inspiration for Irrepressible Soul came to Hill while working with Banner at the Urban Art Space. In May 2022, they worked together on community programming that celebrated Juneteenth becoming a national holiday. That programming, which prioritized collaborating with the community, served as a model for Irrepressible Soul, says Banner.
Through the end of 2022 and into 2023, Hill connected with Columbus artists that would be featured in the exhibit and worked to raise around $50,000 in funding.
“Every artist in the show has some type of tie to Columbus even if they don’t live here anymore,” Hill says. “Columbus has so much talent… but I don’t think often enough, especially with Black artists, we’re able to see that showcased in a larger space.”
The exhibition seeks to recreate spaces that have been historically safe for the Black community, says Hill. To accomplish this, the curators focused on building an environment that immerses the audience in the intersectionality of the lived Black experience.
“If you were to hear Black, if you were to see Black, if you were to taste Black…what would that environment look like? I think that’s really what this exhibition does,” Banner says.
The exhibition creates this environment by building the display from the ground up. Doormats with colloquial sayings from the Black community sit in the entryways, a color palette featuring purples, greens and browns decorate the space, a soundtrack spanning the history of Black music filters through the exhibit, combining to create a tangible atmosphere celebrating Black excellence in the arts.
“The (Black experience) is for everyone. It’s not stereotypical, it's not biased, it's not limited. Everyone can enjoy it and celebrate with Black people,” Banner says.
Beyond the Art
In addition to the exhibition, Irrepressible Soul includes educational programming to inspire dialogue and give back to the community. Workshops, a health and wellness event, a black-tie evening as well as performances and a concluding celebration make up the second half the Irrepressible Soul experience.
“Our hope is that after this, the impact inspires people to continue the conversation and do research on their own after visiting either the programming or the exhibition itself,” Hill says.
The exhibition closes on July 1 with The Celebration – an event that honors the artists and collaborators of the show to express gratitude for the space and the work the exhibition accomplished.
“It is a way to give thanks and a way to kick it,” Banner says. “We have a time and a window now to really have these conversations and art is a universal language.”
Katie Giffin is a contributing writer at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at cityscenemediagroup@feedback.com.
