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Visual artist Cocoa Rae David’s inspiration for creation comes from a place of love.
Her photography is marked with a style that accentuates the individuality and authenticity of her subjects through the use of vivid colors and lighting. David’s Pigment Series, for example, was a collection of mixed-media artwork that both highlighted a wide range of diverse people from different racial experiences, while also creating a safe space filled with love, appreciation, and understanding.
“I always consider myself a child of love,” says David. “I was raised by two parents who loved each other and created a space for me and my siblings and other people who came about, to be ourselves.
“When I’m creating work, I want people to be inspired by the colors of life,” she adds. “Draw on circumstances of hardships and sacrifice, but ultimately I want them to be engaged in the joy, happiness, and self-love of themselves.”
Now, she hopes to continue that creativity, healing, and joy in her own space, Da Purp studio. The creative studio is located in Kee Lox Business Park off Ford Street in Southwest Rochester and has been the headquarters for David since 2021.
Her ongoing fundraiser, with a goal of $10,000, will help keep Da Purp operational. As of last month, she had raised $2,927. She is also seeking in-kind donations of camera gear, lighting, backdrops, speakers, yoga supplies such as blocks, blankets, or mats, and other studio essentials.
The studio is purposefully centered around concepts of healing, storytelling, restoration, and access for communities that have been historically oppressed or excluded from traditional creative spaces.
Almost like a physical totem to that philosophy, a sign hangs on the central concrete pillar in Da Purp’s space. The text marks it as a space safe from hate, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, and ageism.
The artist describes the space as a “multiuse sanctuary” that has been used for photography sessions, as well as educational courses and health and wellness classes, including meditation and yoga, of which David is a practitioner and teacher.
“It can be a rare thing for Black and Brown artists or communities to have space for,” David says. “But it’s important to have artistic creative spaces that can also be healing in a community that has been kept from it. It’s a need.”
Da Purp’s location in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Mayor’s Heights is therefore very important to David. She also expresses her gratitude to the community activists and leaders who helped her get the studio off the ground.
She points to “In This Moment,” a chapbook celebrating the stories of Rochester’s contemporary Black leaders, queer supportive organizations, Rochester Black Pride, and the MOCHA Center, as well as her friend and fellow visual artist Adrian “The Gatekeeper” Elim.
“Without them, I wouldn’t have been placed in a position to help pour back into my community,” David says, reflecting on her supporters.
Donations to the Da Purp studio can be made here. The fundraising campaign will run until Juneteenth.
Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.
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