Artist in Residence

Ursula Scheuer (b. 1992, Cloquet, MN) creates artwork within an evolving, spiritual philosophy that is informed by nature, breath, and identity. When she starts thinking too fast, she notices the jewelweed on her morning walk, and when she notices the jewelweed on her morning walk, she returns home and draws with dye upon big, beautiful, protective swaths of silk. Lately she has been thinking about the rhythms of her life—not just the walks she takes, but the hormones she ingests each morning and night, the rise and fall of her breath, and the patterns that emerge within the drawings that she makes. She believes rhythm is the scaffold of the earth, her spiritual center and what motivates her to create.

Artist Statement:

In 2024, while spending time with a silk I had just made, it revealed to me that I was trans. From that moment, I began processing and protecting my transition through drawing and close attention to my work. With each new chapter, I have produced a body of work that reflects my ongoing physical and spiritual changes, and the hopes and doubts I carry. Most recently, I began hormone replacement therapy. In turn, my work shifted towards deep saturations, jewel tones, and patterns that tesselate through compositions. I have thought to myself, my metaphysical patterns are changing. I will pursue creating 2 or more silks a week at 45 x 80 in, continuing in the tradition of exploring my transition. In addition, I am eager to develop new strategies for presenting the silks, including creating armatures from magnets, wire, and materials I grow in my garden, such as sunflower stalks. My current home studio is limited in space, and I will use this opportunity to explore new creative solutions. Outside of production, I am also interested in this residency as an opportunity to introduce myself within a new community through classes and opening my studio for conversation and skill sharing. In particular, I have run silk-dyeing workshops that I would like to do again. More than simply a means of making work, this residency is an opportunity to become a more established part of this creative community. As I continue to explore who I am as a trans woman, this is an exercise in growth that will have resounding impacts on establishing trust in who I am learning to be. The drawings will inevitably contain that, too.

I draw with resist and liquid dye on stretched silk. This fiber, processed from cocoons, begins as a haven for silkworms as they transform. I remain reverent to this purpose, nurturing energies of protection upon its surface through drawing. As a transgender woman, I find drawing with meditative attention necessary for survival.
I consider myself an alchemist passionately transmuting my breaths into lines, gaseous blooms of color, hypnotic patterns, and surfaces that drape into fascinating forms. I befriend angels, and they exhale, “What begins as a bird can become a moth, and last a sunset lung!”

Like stained glass but softer, completed pieces are often large and adept at tinting light into glowing color. Hung freely, they billow quietly with passing breath or body. This aliveness allows the work a presence for energetic exchange, its crucial function that simultaneously protests the current cultural demonization of transness. I am just a kind and loving worm.

Ursula’s residency period will run from September to December 2026.

Arris Cohen, known as Sir’ra, is a Cleveland-born, Columbus-based, classically trained visual artist who has worked professionally since the onset of the pandemic. His artistic vision is rooted in the diaspora and tells the story of his creative journey as an African American. Using vibrant colors and geometric shapes with melanated peoples as his primary subject matter, his paintings reflect Afrofuturism and Afro Surrealism. His love for painting has recently expanded to large-scale murals. His work continues to diversify as he has been allowed to teach and give back to communities more like the one he grew up in. He looks forward to continued growth and the opportunity to inspire people to be symbols of life and positivity in a landscape where little else can thrive, just like the Baobab Tree. His affinity for Art and giving back has led him to teach high schoolers at Franklinton High School. He hopes to further that endeavor in the near future while continuing to focus primarily on his journey as a multidisciplinary artist.

Artist Statement:

During the residency, I plan to develop a new body of work centered on identity, transformation, memory, and personal legacy through painting while expanding my practice into new materials and processes. As a painter, much of my work explores Black identity, community narratives, and the ways people evolve through life experiences. This residency would let me deepen those themes while experimenting with media outside my regular studio practice. One of my primary goals is to take advantage of the educational opportunities available through the Cultural Arts Center, particularly courses in ceramics, bronze casting, and other three-dimensional processes. I want to translate ideas in my paintings into sculptural forms and expand my visual language through material exploration. Learning these disciplines would let me explore new approaches to storytelling, portraiture, and monument-making while strengthening my technical skills as an artist. The studio space would provide a dedicated environment to create large-scale paintings, develop sculptural studies, and explore how two-dimensional and three-dimensional work can exist in conversation with one another. This residency would allow me to challenge myself creatively, take meaningful risks, and build a cohesive body of work that reflects both personal growth and artistic evolution. As an artist, educator, and muralist, I also value community engagement and the exchange of ideas.

I look forward to sharing my process through open studio opportunities while learning from fellow artists working across different disciplines. My goal is to leave the residency with a stronger multidisciplinary practice, a substantial new body of work, and new tools for creating meaningful artistic experiences both inside and outside the gallery setting.

I am an emerging artist deeply rooted in the traditions of Diasporic realism and Afrofuturism; my acrylic paintings and murals serve as a canvas where culture, love, and the sensory interplay of color and sound converge. I draw from a redemptive spirit that mirrors my journey and the broader narrative of the African diaspora, aiming to bridge the past with visionary futures. In my work, I strive to transcend the conventional boundaries of time and space, blending the historical with the speculative. Each stroke testifies to resilience and the transformative power of art. My palette is vibrant and expressive, echoing the rich and diverse tones of the diaspora while invoking the rhythmic beats that have sustained our communities across continents and eras. The themes of my paintings are as layered as the identities I explore. They are imbued with a profound respect for our ancestors and a hopeful gaze towards the possibilities of tomorrow. Through my art, I invite viewers to experience a fusion of reality and possibility, encouraging a reflective journey into what it means to be connected by a shared heritage, yet diversified by our unique stories. As I continue to evolve as an artist, my goal remains steadfast: to create art that not only reflects the soul of a culture but also ignites conversations and inspires change. In each piece, I seek to capture the essence of Afrofuturism—not just as a genre but as a movement, a form of cultural expression that affirms our place in both history and the infinite landscapes of the future.

Arris’ residency period will run from February to June 2027.