40 Years of Impact | Celebrating 40 Years of the Duncanson Program

Asha Ama: Reclaiming Identity Through Design

26 February 2026
By Kareem A. Simpson, Duncanson Program Manager

Anyone who has had the opportunity to encounter one of the many Duncanson Artists-in-Residence over the years has been fortunate to witness firsthand the creativity, courage, and cultural depth that define each year’s Artist-in-Residence. Each year, the artist transforms the way we see ourselves and invites us to reimagine the narratives we carry. 

Asha Ama Bias-Daniels, 2021 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence | Photo credit: Annette Navarro

Asha Ama Bias-Daniels, a Cincinnati native with roots reaching across the African diaspora, emerged as a formidable creative voice long before she was selected as the 2021 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence. A multidisciplinary fashion designer, costume creator, and storyteller, Bias-Daniels has dedicated her career to exploring identity, ancestry, and liberation through wearable art. Her designs have appeared in national publications, graced runways across the country, and captivated audiences who see a bold merging of contemporary vision with ancestral memory in her work.

After graduating from St. Ursula Academy, Bias-Daniels pursued a degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. This academic pairing shaped her creative lens, grounding her artistry in cultural preservation. Over the years, she has refined her practice into a signature aesthetic: lush, sculptural garments layered with symbolism, West African textures, and the emotional resonance of lived experience. Her work is a testament, a reclamation, and at times a healing ritual.

Throughout her residency, Bias-Daniels transformed gallery spaces and community rooms into living studios of dialogue. “The placements of Asha's garments in the Duncanson Foyer,” said Elise Solomon, Taft Museum of Art’s Director of Learning & Outreach, “created an interesting conversation between an incredibly contemporary design and the bucolic landscapes in the formal interior space. Seeing the works of Black Cincinnatians from different generations demonstrated the power of creativity and inspiration.” 

Asha Ama Bias-Daniels' garment in the Duncanson Foyer in 2021

Bias-Daniels's workshops drew students, emerging designers, and community members eager to explore how clothing can serve as cultural armor, storytelling vessel, and spiritual anchor. Participants stitched memory into fabric, explored the politics of Black adornment, and learned how fashion can become a language of autonomy.

Asha Ama Bias-Daniels represents the best of what contemporary Black artistry can be: fearless, historically rooted, community-centered, and insistently visionary. She reminds us that fashion is not superficial but a tool of power, and a space for liberation.

Bias-Daniels’s story is still unfolding, but her impact since her residency is already undeniable. Since her time with the Taft, Bias-Daniels has made her mark at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), the Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM), and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, among other high-profile features such as BLINK and a collaboration with the Cincinnati Ballet. 


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