Sama / سما is an artist-run project space dedicated to sustained collaborations with artists across generations of practice - self-taught and formally trained, just starting out and established. We are especially interested in hybrid and cross-disciplinary work, and are particularly committed to collaborating with SWANA artists. Rooted in the many cultures that converge in Cleveland and this region, and attuned to the people and histories that shape this place, Sama / سما is artist-first, community-centered, experimental and expansive.

Sama is Arabic for sky - a word carried from the founder's heritage into a windowless room in a former factory in Cleveland. The name refers not to the physical space but to what it looks toward. In its bilingual form, two scripts and no hierarchy, it lives inside the question of what it means to belong.

Through in-depth artist and curatorial collaborations, exhibitions, installations, performances, screenings, and readings, Sama / سما presents experimental practices that engage the cultural, political, technological and generational forces shaping how we live, and what those forces are doing to memory, community, heritage, and our sense of self. Sama / سما welcomes artists from anywhere at any stage to connect with us.

Established 2026. 78th Street Studios, Cleveland.

Visiting Sama / سما

We’re open during every Third Friday event at 78th Street Studios and by appointment: hello@samaartprojects.com. 

Upcoming exhibition: 

Strange, inherently
September 17 – October 16, 2026
Sama / سما
78th Street Studios, 3rd Floor 

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 17, 5–7 PM
On view for Third Fridays: September 18 and October 16
By appointment: Email hello@samaartprojects.com or contact us via our website www.samaartprojects.com. Walk-ins are very welcome but gallery hours aren’t quite set in stone yet so it’s best to get in touch first.