About

Ash Ariel is a Caribbean-American artist, illustrator, and community arts educator based in Washington, D.C., holding a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. Their work blends imagination with introspection, creating fantastical illustrations that explore generational memory, Black girlhood, neurodivergence, and emotional legacy as ways of processing lived experience and inherited patterns.

Their practice is grounded in accessibility, storytelling, and intersectionality. In 2025, Ash launched NeuroNest Art, a creative studio focused on accessible, community-centered artistic engagement, projects, and public art.

Outside of art, Ash enjoys birdwatching, biking, and rewatching animated series like Infinity Train and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

For commissions, print inquiries, murals, events, or to connect:

AshSamuelsArt@gmail.com

CV + Creative Practice

  • 2025 — The Potomac School Mural Residency, McLean, VA
    Project lead, coordinator, and mentor for a school mural installation.

    2023 — Brown University/Rhode Island School of Design, Disability Chats, Providence, RI. Guest speaker on accessibility, disability, neurodiversity, and nonprofits in the arts sector.

  • Since 2018, Ash has worked as a designer, illustrator, and educator based creating work for editorial, nonprofit, community, and cultural projects as well as doing live sketching for events.

    2024 — Ikat Traditions: The Mexican Jaspe Rebozo by Hillary Steel, Virginia Davis
    Book illustrator for a cultural textile publication.

    2023 — The InQueery Semi-Annual Report, Washington, DC
    Illustration for LGBTQ+ nonprofit publication.

    2023 — ChatLGBT (The InQueery Media), Washington, DC
    July illustrator for a community-centered digital platform.

  • 2025

    -DC ZineFest 2025
    -Interwoven: Hillary Steel, Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington, DC
    -Gift of Life, Women’s Caucus for Art DC, Artists & Makers Studios, Rockville, MD
    -DCDM Community Showcase, Glass Class Studios Washington, DC

    2024
    -Mindscape City, Sprout CoWorking Gallery, Providence, RI
    -Art Enables & Friends Holiday Market, Washington, DC
    -RISD Black Biennial, RISD Museum, Providence, RI
    -As We Are, ISB Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

    2023
    -Dreamscape, Ten Moir Gallery
    -Illustration Triennial, Woods Gerry Gallery, RISD, Providence, RI
    -RISD Craft, Bi-Annual Alumni Art Sale, Providence, RI (2023–2024)

    2022
    -Business as Usual, ISB Gallery, RISD, Providence, RI
    -Illustration Invitational, ISB Gallery, RISD, Providence, RI

    2016, Artists on the Rise, Juried Exhibition, Montpelier Arts Center, Laurel, MD