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If you鈥檝e walked through Cleveland鈥檚 Public Square recently, you probably noticed the latest mural on the back of the restaurant REBOL 鈥淲here We Meet In The Middle鈥� by Akron native Alexandria Couch.

The piece centers on braids that interweave into a heart at the middle of the mural. The bright yellow background is filled with white linework that contrasts the details in the faces and hair of the people pictured, who look in distant directions at either side of the piece.

Much of Couch鈥檚 work is personal, and this piece is no exception. The mural was commissioned and funded by LAND Studio, and Couch鈥檚 inspiration for it came from the celebration of self-expression as it relates to Black culture and heritage, especially about hair.

鈥淎s somebody who is a member of the African Diaspora, you kind of feel out of touch with your heritage and your culture at some points,鈥� Couch said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 really know where you came from, but I think the idea that through art, you can meet in the middle, and through self-expression, your fashion, your hairstyle.鈥�

Although her works have personal meaning, Couch said one of the coolest parts about creating public art is seeing how other people interact with it.

鈥淧eople will tell me stuff about my art that I didn鈥檛 even know,鈥� she said.

Coming to accept these vast interpretations was, at times, a frustrating process, Couch said.

But a concept she continues to explore in her current projects is the use of semiotics, which dictionary.com defines as 鈥渢he study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior.鈥�

Couch pointed out that there鈥檚 a tendency to boil Black artists鈥� work down to political messages about Black history or identity, but the reality of her experiences and works is much broader.

鈥淚 like putting different signs and symbols [in my art] and trying to predict how people will react to something in order to kind of change the dialogue of the painting,鈥� Couch said. 鈥淥r to change the trajectory of it or how it鈥檚 understood.鈥�  

Couch said having this overarching theme in her work allows her not to be pigeonholed.

鈥淭he idea of semiotics and other theories that back it is, 鈥楳aybe no one will get it,鈥欌�� Couch said, 鈥淏ut she still made it and it still means something.鈥�

Couch graduated from the University of Akron鈥檚 Mary Schiller Myers School of Art in fall of 2020, and she is moving to New Haven, Connecticut, this month to pursue her master鈥檚 degree at Yale School of Art. While she said she is looking forward to getting started there, she will miss her community and supportive, artistic family at home in Akron.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to share things that I鈥檓 making or that I will be making while I鈥檓 there with people back at home,鈥� Couch said. 鈥淎nd to bring some of those resources home, too."