Adaja Cooper will be the featured artist at Thea Foundation’s second Art Department installment of 2025.
The exhibition, titled “Wish You Were Here!,” opens on Thursday, June 5, with a reception held at the Argenta gallery from 5-7:30 p.m. Cooper’s exhibit will be on display throughout the month of June, and captures “the emotional weight of yearning.” Each piece in her exhibit is “a meditation on memory, distance and the deep desire to hold on to what cannot be held.”
Through portraits of friends, textures and tributes to those she’s lost, “Wish You Were Here!” was crafted from moments of Cooper’s personal journey. After a year of traveling abroad, mourning deep losses of loved ones and confronting fleeting memories, Cooper explores the “emotional ache of absence” through the tangible and intangible.
Cooper is a native of Magnolia, Arkansas, where her passion for art began early in her childhood. She was introduced to painting by her art teachers while attending Little Rock Central High School, and she continued her artistic journey at Hendrix College, where she majored in visual art. Over the years, Cooper has held several solo exhibitions, received state awards and has been featured in many publications. She is also locally well-known for her vibrant, socially conscious murals.
For more information, call 501.379.9512, visit the Thea Foundation website and follow along on Facebook and Instagram.