Ari Glass
“Free Food Program” by Ari Glass
2025
About The Artist
Ari Glass ( b. September 7th, 1988 ) is a multidisciplinary artist, researcher, and educator from Seattle. Thoroughly impacted and inspired by his unique cultural upbringing in the South End, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the US, Ari explores the “possibility of perfection,” combining gold, solar aesthetics, and human (r)evolution to echo the mythos of indigenous and black culture.
The golden light of the Sun is the creative power that unites life on Earth. In his artwork, Ari uses gold as his primary medium, the element that has represented the Sun, royalty, and divinity since time immemorial. The ethereal essence of gold has the power to transfigure images, conveying a sacred quality and harmony. Ari uses his knowledge of art history in unison with his personal style to create unique compositions that serve as a bridge between the past and the present. His work vitalizes the idea that everyone is a sovereign ruler in their own kingdom, empowering the artist and the viewer. Ari’s goal as an artist is to shine solar power to the people — through vivid color and gilded philosophies.
Ari has exhibited his work at locations such as the Wing Luke Museum, the Bellevue Arts Museum, The Paramount Theatre, and Pacific Tower. Featured in publications such as Cross-cut, The Seattle Times, KUOW, and the South Seattle Emerald. He is a recipient of awards from the Facebook/Meta Artist in Residency program, Seattle Arts and Culture Mural Commission, Seattle Foundation, Satterberg Foundation and has led beloved community projects in partnership with the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Parks & Recreation, and Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative (SYVPI).
He is currently collaborating with various local organizations to uplift and empower artists, youth, and his entire community. He has beencreating artwork his whole life and will never quit.
Inspiration Behind The Art
Created as a site-specific commission for Black Panther Park in Skyway, Wa, “Free Food Program” connects the legacy of the Black Panther Party’s community programs to the future of food justice movements. The mural centers on a young Black child seated regally upon a golden Peacock Chair—the iconic wicker throne synonymous with Black liberation through Huey P. Newton’s legendary portrait and Black Coolness from album covers and family portraits. By juxtaposing the OG with youth, the work positions children as inheritors of liberation. The chromatic palette draws from the Pan-African flag—red, black, and green—interpreted through Ari’s distinct visual vocabulary.
Emerging organically from the throne’s base are plants species such as elderberry and mondo grass, reflecting plants endemic to the park site itself. This botanical element establishes a critical conceptual link: the Earth functions as the original “Free Food Program,” and authentic liberation remains inseparable from land stewardship and community health. The mural operates within the continuum of the Black Panther Party’s revolutionary praxis, which understood that community self-determination required addressing material needs—food, health, education—as inseparable from The People’s liberation. Through the intersection of public art and food justice, this site-specific work creates space for mutual aid practices that sustain Skyway’s Black community while honoring the foundational principles established by the Seattle Black Panther Party’s programs.
Connect with Ari Glass
Website: ari.art
Contact: create@ari.art
Follow: @thesoufender