RA Washington

RA Washington is an American artist known for his work in conceptual art, music, poetry, writing, and community organizing. Since relocating to Cleveland in 1991, he has been involved in various collaborative projects, including co-founding DIY spaces like Inside Outside Gallery, The Church of Albert Ayler, and Guide To Kulchur (GTK), a cooperative press and bookstore. He has contributed as a composer, instrumentalist, and vocalist in bands such as Vernacular, Blk Tygr, and Mourning[A] BLKstar.
His written works encompass poems, novels, and essays published in collections such as "The Paris Notebooks" (NightBallet Press, 2014) and a trilogy of memoirs—BODY, Black Eunuch, and Baldwin Notes (Outlandish Press, 2017-2021). Washington has been involved in conceptual art collaborations like Jacolby Satterwhite's "DAWN" and Asad Raza’s "Delegation" (2022). Co-founding Mourning [A] BLKstar led to the collective receiving the 2021 Cleveland Arts Prize in Music.