Midtown Houston is welcoming Aris Kian as its Cycle 2 Artist in Residence, continuing a program launched earlier this year to connect artists, community and the neighborhood in new ways. A Houston-born poet, writer and spoken word artist, Kian is bringing a project to Midtown that looks at where we’ve been, where we are today and what we want our community to become. It’s called Tomorrow Is…—and Midtown is invited to help shape it.

 

 

Meet Aris Kian

Houston is at the heart of Kian’s work.

 

Kian served as the 2023–2025 Houston Poet Laureate and earned her MFA from the University of Houston as an Inprint C. Glenn Cambor Fellow. She was named a 2025 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow, and her debut poetry collection, Heartless Architecture, won the 2027 Miller Williams Poetry Prize.

 

Her work explores memory, place and community, with Houston often serving as both inspiration and subject. Kian sees poetry as more than a form of self-expression. It can also preserve memories, bring people together and give communities a way to imagine what comes next.

 

That idea is at the center of her Midtown residency.

 

What Is Tomorrow Is…?

 

Walk through Midtown today and you’ll find a neighborhood where Houston’s history and its future meet block by block.

 

Through Tomorrow Is…, Kian will explore those layers using photography and poetry.

 

Working with historic photographs from the Houston Public Library, she plans to photograph the same locations as they appear today, placing images from the past and present in conversation with one another.

 

Then, she’ll look toward the future—with help from Midtown.

 

Kian plans to gather words, phrases and reflections from residents, business owners, faith-based institutions and other community members about what they hope to see in the neighborhood and the city ahead. Those voices will become part of the poetry and artwork developed throughout the residency.

 

So while Tomorrow Is… begins with Kian’s artistic vision, the finished story will be shaped by the people of Midtown, too.

 

 

How Can the Community Get Involved?

 

You don’t have to be a poet or artist to be part of Tomorrow Is….

 

During her residency, Kian plans to host three free community experiences: a Tomorrow Is… writing workshop where participants can imagine the city they want to see; an open mic night welcoming poetry, short stories, comedy and music; and an ekphrasis workshop using photographs and artwork as inspiration for new writing.

 

There’s also another chance to experience Kian’s work in Midtown. Kian will be one of the featured artists performing at Midtown Houston’s Sounds of Midtown on December 11 at Bagby Park from 5–10 p.m. The event offers the community a chance to see her perform live and get to know the artist behind Tomorrow Is….

 

Her residency will culminate in a final reading and community conversation featuring work created along the way, including a collective poem built from words and reflections contributed by the Midtown community.

 

Whether you join a workshop, catch her performance at Sounds of Midtown or contribute a few words of your own, there will be several ways to be part of Kian’s residency—and the story Tomorrow Is… tells about Midtown.

 

 

What Will Tomorrow Be?

 

Kian is Midtown Houston’s second Artist in Residence, following Cycle 1 artist DUAL. But Tomorrow Is… brings a new question to the program: What can we learn from the places and people that came before us—and what do we want to carry forward?

 

The answer won’t come from one artist alone.

 

It will come from the people who live here, work here, create here and care about what Midtown becomes next.

 

Aris Kian’s Midtown Houston Artist in Residence cycle runs through January 31, 2027. Follow @midtownhou for upcoming Tomorrow Is… workshops, events and opportunities to get involved