Artist Aaron D. Williams Selected for BIPOC+ Exhibition at Summit Artspace
Akron, OHIO (March 4, 2026) — Artist Aaron D. Williams was recently selected by jurors Bronlynn Thurman and Orlando Caraballo Ortiz for Summit Artspace’s 5th annual solo exhibition for BIPOC+ (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) artists. Aaron’s exhibition, Scorporation, will be on view from May 14 through July 11, 2026, in Summit Artspace’s Betty & Howard Taylor Main Gallery.
Aaron D. Williams (Aawful Aaron) is a Cleveland-based multi-media artist, entrepreneur, and founder of the artist collective, Young Cleveland Renaissance. In his work, he explores themes of social identity, mental health, competition, and othering. Primarily working in drawing, he incorporates layering techniques using colored pencils, markers, and mixed media. Williams blends traditional illustration with street art, Afro-surrealism, and popular culture influences to create immersive surreal imagery. Evoking fever-like dream spaces and alternative realities, he invites viewers to confront forces and systems at play.
Building upon Williams’ 2021 debut solo show Aawful Aaron at moCa Cleveland, Scorporation is a multimedia installation that expands Williams’ exploration of deconstructing perceived realities.
He draws inspiration from Afro-surrealism, street art, and popular culture, and blends traditional illustration techniques with cutting-edge technology to create vibrant, surreal scenescapes. This exhibition will feature new 2D work, drawings, paintings, mixed-media, and an interactive video installation that invites viewers into Williams’ multidimensional universe. Each piece will explore “BIPOC+ narratives, confront societal issues, and reimagine traditionally white-dominated genres, offering new social justice and equity perspectives,” the artist explains. Through the exhibition, he aims to “restore hope by envisioning a world where social justice has taken hold while also exposing and denouncing injustices to marginalized communities”. Challenging conventional traditional gallery space, Scorporation invites viewers to not only participate in the work but be changed by it. Williams states, “it is with great joy that after we have collectively been through so much, i get to share this body of work. the scorporation is coming to akron.”
Williams’ work has been shown at moCa Cleveland, SPACES, Cleveland City Hall, Cleveland Public Library, and the Riffe Gallery. He was recently selected as one of the five artists to design a series of murals for the America250-Ohio Tuskegee Airmen Multi-City Murals project.
To learn more about Aaron and his work, please visit www.aawfulaaron.com and follow him on social media at @aawfulaaron.
Summit Artspace is committed to exploring the many ways in which local BIPOC+ artists reflect and influence our communities through their art. Each year, the selected artist receives a $1,000 stipend to support the creation of a solo exhibition at Summit Artspace. The annual exhibition is one way Summit Artspace seeks to actively undo systems of oppression and domination present in the art world. The show and stipend for the selected artist are supported in part by Akron Community Foundation’s Vernon D. Odom Fund and Peg’s Foundation.
About Summit Artspace: Summit Artspace is a nonprofit arts organization connecting artists and artist-serving organizations to the resources they need to thrive professionally, creatively, and financially. It provides artist studios, exhibitions, and programs in Summit County and serves as a vital place for the public to engage with the creative community. Summit Artspace is located at 140 East Market Street in Akron, Ohio. Public hours are Fridays & Saturdays from noon – 5 p.m. Summit Artspace is supported by The County of Summit, Ohio Arts Council, GAR Foundation, Akron Community Foundation, ArtsNow/ArtsForward, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Burton D. Morgan Foundation, Peg’s Foundation, Lehner Family Foundation, and The Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation. For more information, visit the Summit Artspace website or call (330) 376-8480.
