Mizzou MA student Ja’ Licia Gainer accepted into AIR residency at Orr Street

This past semester Ja’ Licia Gainer, 2nd year MA student in Art History and SVS Alumni Tommy Fritz were selected to be part of the 2025-2026 Artist in Residence program at Orr Street Studios in Columbia, Missouri. The year-long program is arranged to help local artists who could benefit from a dedicated studio space. Fritz and Gainer moved into their respective spaces earlier this semester.

Ja’ Licia is a visual artist in the medium of painting from Tulsa, Oklahoma who grew up in Columbia since she was six years old. Gainer is 24 years old and is utilizing art as a form of therapy. “Since I focused more on my artwork, I felt this elevating presence and overall confidence to pursue my passions.” Gainer’s paintings express representations of the female body, along with abstracts of nature using impasto and palette knife technique. Over the span of three years, Gainer has had her work shown in galleries across Columbia, including Columbia Art League, Boone County Art Show, The Shops at Sharp End, and Orr Street Studios. 

Gainer graduated with her Bachelor’s of Art in Art History at Mizzou in 2023. Gainer is now in her second year of the School of Visual Studies graduate program to get her Master’s in Art History. During a break between programs, Gainer thought about her next steps. Initially she thought about letting go of one over the other. “I sat with myself and asked where I wanted to go in life and if I needed to let go of either Art or Art History. I decided to keep both as it has benefited my overall happiness and has given me great lessons over the years and will continue to do so.”

Gainer has been exploring another route in two of her interests over this year. “I’ve been challenging myself to incorporate my Art History research interests with my Art. Especially shining a light on the few better representations of African and African American sitters in art and material culture that are not really shown in the art historical canon.” She also has had an Art Internship at the State Historical Society of Missouri. “I have a lot of plans this school year. Along with being in the residency, I want to continue my research as I will be presenting one of my papers at the UAAC Conference in Toronto, Canada this October.” 

You can come see their studios every First Friday for the next eleven months at Orr Street Studios at 106 Orr St, Columbia, MO 65201.