2026 Student Art Competition: We Have A Winner
LOVE YUL PROTECT
The Village Alliance is pleased to announce Ari Barash, a sophomore at The Cooper Union, as the winner of our second annual Student Art Competition. His four-painting series, LONGLIVEYUL: NOMADIC COSMOLOGY, will be installed in Astor Place Plaza and remain on view through the summer.
2026’s applicant pool was four times the size of 2025’s inaugural year, making Barash's selection all the more impressive. His tableaus spanning abstraction, figuration, and landscape painting won judges over for their clarity of vision yet endless interpretability.
Barash’s work will be printed on vinyl to wrap utility boxes and enliven the environs. Additionally, he will receive a cash prize of $1000.
“Art is core to the Village’s identity and we strive to not only preserve that legacy, but also to encourage its evolution,” Scott Hobbs, Village Alliance’s Executive Director said. “I can’t think of a better setting than Astor Place—or a more fitting “canvas” than an electrical box—to demonstrate that ingenuity.”
THE SERIES: LONG LIVE YUL: NOMADIC COSMOLOGY
This series emerged after the loss of Yul, my older brother, in 2024. It grapples with the fragility and unconditional love of siblinghood amid the uncertainty of migration and divergent spiritual journeys. Inspired by my lucid dreams, the works imagine multiverses in which bodies are inexplicably drawn toward one another, bound by forces that attract and resist contact.
At its core, the series reflects a trust in the persistence of connection despite the impossibility of resolving grief. It embraces flux as both destabilizing and generative, where longing, trust, and love remain in constant motion—unfixed, yet encompassing. — ARI BARASH
Artist Bio
Ari Yul Barash ( b.2006) is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist and musician attending the Cooper Union School of Art, where he is studying painting, sound design, installation, and performance. Ari has performed as a drummer at the Apollo Theater, Shapeshifter Lab, and Nublu. Ari also performed with Kimberly Bartosik’s “BLUR” as a light design performer in New York Live Arts, L’ALLIANCE, and more.
Website: aribarash.com | IG:@aribarash3
Ari Barash’s work will be unveiled with a public dedication on May 7, 2026 at 11:00 AM on Astor Place Plaza. All are welcome to join.
